New Delhi: On Monday, the Centre informed the Supreme Court that it is making every effort to prevent the execution of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya through private channels, but there is “not much” that can be done to halt the execution of the 38-year-old woman in Yemen scheduled for July 16.

“The government has limited options. Given the sensitivity surrounding Yemen, it is not diplomatically recognized,” Attorney General R Venkataramani stated before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.

He noted that there is a limit to how far the Indian government can negotiate, and they have already reached that limit.

“Yemen is unlike any other region in the world. We did not want to complicate the situation by making it public,” he explained. He mentioned that blood money is a matter of private negotiation.

Venkataramani’s comments were made in response to a petition filed by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council (SNPIAC), which is urging the Centre to take immediate diplomatic action to save her.

The country’s top legal officer stressed that the government is attempting to intervene at a private level. Unfortunately, he added, the government also inquired with the public prosecutor about the possibility of suspending the execution, but this has not been successful. “Nothing seems to matter to the Yemeni government,” he remarked.

Venkataramani further stated that to prevent her execution, the government has even engaged with an influential Sheikh in Yemen, but so far, this has not yielded results.

“We received informal communication indicating that the execution might be postponed, but we cannot be certain it will happen,” he said.

A lawyer representing the petitioner, SNPIAC, contended that good samaritans are unable to make any impact due to the situation in Yemen.

“We are even prepared to pay a higher blood money to save her from execution,” he stated.