HC rejects Russian man’s plea against his detention

Panaji: The high court of Bombay at Goa has rejected a petition filed by a 28-year-old Russian man challenging an order passed by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) directing him to reside at a detention centre at Mapusa.
During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer C Collasso contended that there is a request for his extradition from the Russian authorities and that he was willing to return to Russia. As the foreigner is not wanted for any crime in India, there was no good reason for the government authorities to order him to reside at the detention centre, Collasso stated.
The government replied that the petitioner was to be produced before the extradition court in New Delhi, but this was not possible on account of the Covid-19 situation. Advocate general Devidas Pangam replied that relocating the petitioner at this stage or producing him before the extradition court in New Delhi was not only contrary to his interest but would also put the lives and well-being of the escorting police officers from Goa at severe risk.
Pangam further assured the court that as soon as the situation improved, necessary steps would be taken to produce him before the extradition court.
After hearing the parties, a division bench comprising justices M S Sonak and M S Jawalkar observed, “In any case, at least prima facie, we are satisfied that the respondents are not averse to taking steps in the matter of extradition but the process has not progressed at the satisfactory pace only on account of the Covid-19 situation.”
The court accepted the statement of the advocate general that the petitioner would be produced before the extradition court and directed the government to act on it.
The petitioner had moved the court stating that he was being illegally held at the detention centre in Mapusa and should be released. He said he had arrived in India in February 2013 and had lost his bag containing his passport, mobile phone and money while travelling to Dehradun in August that year.
After his arrival in Goa, he said he had contacted the Russian consulate in Mumbai in April 2018 and had paid the FRRO Rs 42,000 for overstaying.
He told the court that he had subsequently purchased a ticket and was given a travel document by the Russian consulate, but was taken aside by officials at the Dabolim airport and sent to the Colvale central jail.
The petitioner stated that upon his release that July, he was told he couldn’t leave Goa as the government was awaiting an order from Russia. While continuing to await intimation about his departure, he said he was arrested by the Pernem police in January 2020 and sent to the detention centre in Mapusa.