Detained for nine years, foreigner moves court

After languishing for nearly nine years in the jail for want of valid documents in his favour, a foreign national has finally has knocked the Delhi high court door for justice against his prolonged detention by the authority.

Taking suo motu cognisance of a letter written by Sheikh Abdul Aziz, a 32-year-old who claimed to be a national from Saudi Arabia, a high court bench had last week intervened and sought Central government's response on his petition.

Aziz was apprehended by the Jammu and Kashmir police and was sent to jail by a Srinagar court in 2006 for failing to give satisfactory reason for traveling in India without a valid passport and visa.

The local court, which had sentenced him to one year imprisonment, directed the state authority to deport the man to his country. Following the court order, J&K government had shifted Aziz to Delhi as the department concerned of the ministry of external affairs had to initiate the process for his deportation.

Seeking chief justice of Delhi High Court's intervention, Aziz said instead of keeping him the deportation centre, he was kept in Tihar jail with the hardcore criminals.

Acting upon the court's directions earlier pursuant to Aziz's allegations, the Centre, Delhi government and Jammu and Kashmir have furnished no objection letter to Tihar authority for shifting Aziz to a detention home immediately.

Appearing for the the ministry of external affairs, additional solicitor general Rajeeve Mehra has informed the court that there had been some correspondence between the Indian government and the Saudi Arabian embassy in Delhi to confirm the nationality of Aziz. However, the Saudi Arabian government claimed Aziz was not a Saudi national, he said.

The government counsel also said, "In view of the Saudi government disowning Aziz as its citizen, it shall now be examined by the central government as to what is required to be done in law as far as Aziz's continued stay in India is concerned."

Meanwhile, the court appointed senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, as amicus curiae in the matter.

The lawyer said there has to be some mechanism to deal with cases pertaining the nationality of the person awaiting deportation and also pleaded for compensation for Aziz for his continued detention, which was apparently illegal. Further, the lawyer suggested that the court should call the records of such foreign nationals detained for long and yet to be deported.