HC directives to curb overstaying by foreigners

PANAJI: The high court of Bombay at Goa has given directives for the expeditious disposal of cases against foreigners who stay in Goa without proper documents.

During the hearing of the case, amicus curiae D Pangam and additional public prosecutor Pravin Faldessai stated that undue advantage is taken by foreign nationals by securing bail from courts, where one of the conditions is that they do not leave India. They pointed out that foreign nationals continue to stay in India on the basis of the condition in the bail order.



When releasing foreign nationals on bail, courts usually do not verify whether they have valid travel documents or whether their visa has already expired. Foreign nationals released on bail on the basis of such bail orders then even resist detention or action for deportation.

“According to us, in such cases, the state/prosecution can also make applications before the magistrate/courts where such matters are pending to expedite matters by clearly pointing out the circumstances of overstay and apprehension that the involvement in petty offences is perhaps to facilitate such overstay,” justices M S Sonak and Nutan D Sardessai said

The court, however, said that the approach could not be applied in case of serious offences, like under the NDPS Act, cyber fraud and rape, among others. “We make it clear that this list is by no means exhaustive. Such matters will have to be considered on a case-to-case basis,” the court stated.

In some cases, the state or prosecution can “even consider whether withdrawal from the prosecution is a better option”, the court stated. However, in either cases, the court said that as soon as the case is disposed, arrangements must be immediately made to deport the foreign nationals found to have no proper travel documents or whose visa term has expired.