Supreme Court aghast at detention of foreigner for 15 years

NEW DELHI: Is Abdul Sharief a Pakistani or an Iranian? For the last 15 years, the Centre made no serious attempt to determine his nationality, quietly forgetting Sharief after consigning him to a detention centre in Amritsar.
But there is now a ray of hope for Sharief as the gross abuse of his constitutional guarantee to life and liberty by apathetic authorities has riled the Supreme Court which minced no words in expressing shock and anguish.
Asked when Sharief, son of Ghoolam Sharief, was arrested, the Union government failed to give the information on Tuesday to a bench of Justices R M Lodha and A R Dave during the hearing of a PIL by Prof Bhim Singh seeking release of Pakistani prisoners lodged in Indian jails despite completing their sentences.
Although the date of arrest was not available, additional solicitor general P P Malhotra said Sharief completed his prison term way back in 1997. This meant the foreigner had been kept in detention for the last 15 years. Asked by the bench why he remained behind bars, Malhotra said, "He cannot be allowed to be released to mingle with the general public."
The bench then curtly told the ASG, "You cannot allow him to mingle with general public but would keep him intermingled with hardcore criminals in jail? We are pained and concerned about the man. Life and liberty are two most important rights guaranteed under the Constitution not only to Indians but also to foreigners."
Asked about the delay in establishing the foreigner's identity, the government said initially they had suspected him to be a Pakistani. But later, the Pakistan high commission informed the government that he could be an Iranian.
Malhotra said that in February this year, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) wrote to the Iranian embassy seeking help in his identification. The bench asked, "If tomorrow the Iranian embassy says that he was from some other country, will the foreigner continue to be under detention?"
The bench added, "In our view, the continued detention even in a detention centre, when he has served out his sentence way back on July 17, 1997, is not only improper but highly deplorable. All steps must be taken by concerned officials and authorities in getting his nationality established so that he can be repatriated to the country he belongs to.
"We expect the ministry of external affairs and the ministry of home affairs to take all necessary steps in having the nationality of Abdul Sharief established without any further loss of time so that he can be repatriated without any further delay." The court fixed November 29 for further hearing on the issue.
The bench noted that the Pakistan high commission too had not heeded the court's repeated requests to establish the nationality of 24 more prisoners who were ready for repatriation. However, the government said it had released and repatriated 46 Pakistani fishermen.
The court also asked the ASG to find out details of the steps taken by the government in contacting foreign governments to establish the nationality of 16 other foreign nationals who have been kept in prison because of non-identification.
Times View
It is indeed shocking that a man should have remained in jail for 15 years after his sentence has been served out merely because officialdom is unable to ascertain what his nationality is. As the court has correctly pointed out, the right to life and freedom cannot be so casually snatched away from someone. Even if the person happens not be a citizen, it reflects poorly on the rule of law in our country if such gross injustice is done to him. The government must at least now show the kind of urgency it should have done many years ago and make arrangements for him to be released and sent home, wherever that may be.