PANAJI: The high court of Bombay at Goa has granted permission to an Austrian national involved in a drugs case to leave the country on furnishing a cash security of Rs 3 lakh.
The court directed him to provide his complete address and all other relevant details of his stay in Austria including employment details to the trial court once he secures any employment there.
In August, the sessions court had dismissed his application to leave the country to work in Austria for seven months and return stating that if his application was allowed, every foreign national facing trial or investigation under drug case or any other case would have applied for leave to go to his native place or abroad.
His counsel Caroline Collasso submitted in the high court that he is a legitimate tourist with proper travel documents and has come to Goa many times earlier too. The counsel said that it is tough for a citizen of Austria to stay here indefinitely without any gainful employment and is living on financial help from his mother in Austria.
She submitted to the court that the chemical analysis report has not been received even though the alleged offence took place close to one year ago and argued that even a foreign national can have his fundamental rights intact.
The additional public prosecutor Gaurish Nagvekar submitted that it has become a regular phenomenon that most foreign nationals facing criminal charges have never come back to face trial once they were allowed to leave the country.