High court asks Punjab to explain custody of 48 foreign nationals after completion of sentences

Saurabh Malik

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Chandigarh, July 17

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered Punjab officials to explain the continued detention of 48 foreign nationals even after the completion of their sentences.

The direction came as a Bench noted inaction in the matter.

Taking up suo motu or “court on its own motion” case against the states of Punjab and Haryana, along with UT Chandigarh, the Division Bench of Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Vikas Bahl asserted that consular access was provided as far back as 2008 in some cases, but the nationality status was not verified. Even when nationality had been verified, the individuals were still in custody and had not been deported.

The Bench also quoted the example of a Nigerian national who had been acquitted, but an appeal against the judgment was pending. It was observed in the column of remarks in a document placed before the Bench that he would be deported after the dismissal of the appeal. The Bench also directed the handing over of an affidavit submitted in the matter by Punjab Additional Director-General of Police, Prisons, Arun Pal Singh, to Additional Solicitor-General of India Satya Pal Jain as “it has been submitted that the needful is to be done by the UOI”.

The Bench also directed the UT to detail deportation procedures for Punjab to follow. It instructed Chandigarh to provide a detailed affidavit on foreign nationals’ deportation procedures after completion of their sentence. The directive came after the UT filed a status report revealing that 18 foreign inmates were currently lodged in Model Jail, but none of them had completed their sentences.

The court asked the UT to specify the number of foreign nationals who had completed their sentences in the past five years and were subsequently deported, along with the procedures followed, to serve as a procedural guide for the state of Punjab, facing scrutiny for detaining 48 foreign nationals despite completion of their sentences.

The matter will come up for hearing on September 10.

The high court had initiated the suo motu or court in public interest following a request made by a Kenyan national during Justice Sandhawalia’s inspection of a central jail (women).

Justice Sandhawalia was told that system was not in place for the foreign nationals lodged in the jails to get in touch with their families after their arrest. “In such circumstances, we are of the considered opinion that a larger human rights issue arises, which needs to be addressed by both the states of Punjab and Haryana,” the Bench had asserted.