India, Nov. 3 -- The Delhi high court on Monday directed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to provide legal assistance to Bollywood actor Celina Jaitley's brother, retired Major Vikrant Jaitley, who has been in detention in the United Arab Emirates for more than 14 months.

A bench of Justice Sachin Datta was hearing the actor's petition seeking directions to the central government to facilitate effective legal assistance for her brother, ensure real-time and direct communication between them, and provide regular consular access to monitor his well-being.

The actor, who was present in court in person and represented by advocates Raghav Kacker, Ribhav Pande, and Madhav Aggarwal, claimed that her brother had been illegally abducted an...