Writ Appeal No. 651 of 2012 and M.P. No. 1 of 2012. Case: The State Rep. by the Secretary to Government, Public (Foreigners III) Department, The District Collector, Kancheepuram District and The Director General of Police, (Law and Order) Vs G. Karunairaj. High Court of Madras (India)
| Case Number | Writ Appeal No. 651 of 2012 and M.P. No. 1 of 2012 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: Mr. A.L. Somayaji Advocate General Assisted by Mr. T.N. Rajagopalan, Special Government Pleader and For Respondents: Mr. M. Sreedhar, for M. Sreedhar Associates |
| Judges | R. K. Agrawal, C.J. and M. Sathyanarayanan, J. |
| Issue | Citizenship Act, 1955 - Sections 5, 5(1), 9, 9(2); Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) - Section 164; Constitution of India - Articles 14, 19, 19(1)(e), 21; Extradition Act, 1962 - Section 14; Foreigners Act, 1946 - Sections 11, 2(a), 3, 3(1), 3(2), 3(2)(a), 3(2)(e), 3(2)(g), 8, 9; Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) (IPC) - Sections 109, 120(B)... |
| Judgement Date | November 26, 2013 |
| Court | High Court of Madras (India) |
Judgment:
-
The official respondents in W.P. No. 27221/2011, are the appellants and aggrieved by the final order dated 29.2.2012, made in the said writ petition, by and under which, G.O.Rt. No. 3749, issued by the first appellant herein, dated 9.11.2011, under Section 3(2)(e) of the Foreigners Act, 1946 (Central Act 31 of 1946) read with the Notification of the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, No. 4/3/56 (1) F-1, dated 19.4.1958, for regulating the presence of the respondent herein, with a further direction to reside in the Special Camp for Foreigners, came to be quashed. The facts briefly stated and necessary for the disposal of this writ appeal, are as follows:
2(i) The respondent herein filed the above said writ petition praying for the issuance of a writ of certiorarified mandamus to quash the above said Government Order dated 9.11.2011, stating among other things, that he is an Indian Citizen and further, that on 21.8.2011, came to Chennai with his wife viz. Jayanthi, and three children viz. Shyamala aged about 19 years (female), Tika Devan aged about 6 years (boy) and Bumiputeri aged about 5 years (girl), for the purpose of shopping in connection with his younger daughter's ear-boring ceremony and were staying in Hotel Aravind Residency at Ekathuthangal, Chennai and during midnight hours on that date, a team of Police officials headed by the Inspector of Police Mr. Chandrasekar, attached to the City Crime Branch, Coimbatore City, had banged his hotel room and they informed him they were from City Crime Branch at Coimbatore City and they asked him to speak to the Commissioner of Police viz. Mr. Sylendrababu, I.P.S., over phone and thereafter, the writ petitioner and his family members were tortured and his wife as well as his elder daughter were molested and sexually assaulted and thereafter, all of them were taken in two cars to Coimbatore and on the way to Coimbatore also, the policemen sitting near his wife and his elder daughter, had abused them.
2(ii) It is further averred by the writ petitioner that on reaching Coimbatore, he was taken to the room of the Commissioner of Police, wherein, the said official personally made some enquiry and subsequently, his house in Andhra Pradesh, was searched and his laptops, cellphones, wallets, credit cards, debit cards, costly watches, jewellery weighing about 250 sovereigns, PAN card, driving licence and other valuable items were seized and they also effected the arrest of the writ petitioner and his wife. According to the writ petitioner, he last saw his children on 23.8.2010.
2(iii) It is further stated by the writ petitioner that he was arrested in Crime No. 55/2010 registered by the City Crime Branch of Coimbatore City Police, for the alleged commission of the offence under Section 420 IPC, and thereafter, arrested pursuant to the Prisoner Transfer (P.T.) Warrant in Crime Nos. 83, 77 and 38/2010 registered by the above said Unit, and also in connection with Crime No. 609/2004 registered by Cheyyur Police Station, and he was remanded to judicial custody and was lodged at Puzhal Central Prison at Chennai and according to him, all the cases were foisted at the instance of the then Commissioner of Police for the reason that he might expose the nexus between the top I.P.S. officials and the Drug Mafia operating in India and the writ petitioner in this regard, sent number of representations to the higher officials and he has also given his statement under Section 164 of Cr.P.C. before the Court of Judicial Magistrate at Uthiramerur, confessing the role and involvement of the I.P.S. officers in Tamil Nadu and their nexus with international mafia dealing with drugs and diamonds, and he had also proof showing their involvement.
2(iv) It is further averred by the writ petitioner that he filed an application for bail in one of the crime numbers in Crl. O.P. No. 29774/2010 and during the course of the hearing, the Additional Public Prosecutor represented that the petitioner is not an Indian Citizen, but a Malaysian National, and he entered India with bogus documents. It is the claim of the writ petitioner that he is in possession of driving licence and voters' identity card issued by the concerned authorities of this country, and therefore, the claim made in that regard, is absolutely false and baseless.
2(v) It is further stated by the writ petitioner that he was granted bail in all the cases and was released from Puzhal Central Prison on 8.9.2011, and when he came out, he was arrested by Hosur Hudco Police in connection with Crime No. 251/2009, and no intimation was given with regard to his arrest, to his relatives and in that case also, he was enlarged on bail on 12.9.2011, and he furnished sureties on 14.9.2011; but, the bail bond was not dispatched and therefore, he filed Crl. O.P. No. 25708/2011 for a direction directing the concerned Magistrate to dispatch the bail bond and it was belatedly dispatched and on 8.11.2011, he was ultimately released from Puzhal Central Prison and when he came outside, a few persons had pushed him in a police jeep and at that time, he saw his daughter and counsel waiting outside the prison gate and the concerned persons, who were stated to be the police personnel, attached to "Q" Branch, informed him that some top police officials in the rank of Additional Director General of Police, wanted to meet him and speak to him and he refused and the daughter of the petitioner in that regard, has also sent a telegram to the Secretary to Government, Home Department and the petitioner on being illegally taken, was subjected to physical torture and he has been illegally detained till 12.11.2011, and on the evening hours on that date, he was served with the Government Order dated 9.9.2011, stating that he is going to be detained at Special Camp for Foreigners at Chengalpattu.
2(vi) It is the specific case of the writ petitioner that he is having a PAN card and driving licence and is also operating Savings Bank Account in India for the past 10 years and therefore, the claim of the official respondents/appellants that he is facing number of criminal cases in Malaysia and clandestinely entered India without any valid documents is only false and without any reasons.
2(vii) The writ petitioner also raised a legal issue that under Section 9 of the Citizenship Act, only the Central Government is competent to deal with the citizenship issue and the State Government lacks any power to decide the same. The writ petitioner also relies upon Section 14 of the Extradition Act, 1962, which states that a fugitive criminal may be apprehended in India under the endorsed warrant or a provisional warrant and unless and until he is declared as a fugitive criminal, he cannot be arrested by the State Police without the endorsed warrant issued by the Government of India, or the provisional warrant issued by the Magistrate from any Commonwealth country. The writ petitioner also raised a plea that the said Government Order infringes Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India and therefore, filed the writ petition praying for the quashment of the said order.
2(viii) The first appellant herein/first respondent in the writ petition, filed its counter denying the averments in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition, and would state that the Coimbatore City Crime Branch Police has registered Crime Nos. 38, 55, 77 and 83/2010 respectively against the writ petitioner, alleging cheating and other allied offences and all cases have been registered on complaints given by the aggrieved innocent and reliable persons, who were cheated by the writ petitioner, and the said cases after investigation, have culminated in charge sheets, which had been taken on file by the jurisdictional Magistrate Courts.
2(ix) It is further stated by the first appellant/first respondent in the writ petition, that during the course of investigation in CCB Crime No. 55/2010, the Investigating officer had obtained the fingerprints of the writ petitioner after obtaining necessary orders from the Court of Judicial Magistrate No. VII, Coimbatore and forwarded the same to the NCB/INTERPOL Malaysia, Royal Malaysian Police, Kuala Lumpur and the said authority had compared the fingerprints of Michael, son of Soosai, with the fingerprints forwarded by the Coimbatore City Crime Branch Police, and they sent a report stating that the writ petitioner's fingerprints tallied with that of Malaysian fugitive offender Michael @ Soosai and further stated that the writ petitioner is a Malaysian Citizen and his Malaysian Citizen Identity Card Number is 630308-07-5073 and his passport number is A11314136, and on 15.4.2011, the Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore City, received a copy of the letter from the Consulate General of Malaysia enclosing the death certificate of Michael Soosai, bearing the above said Malaysian National Identity Card Number and Passport Number, stating that the factum of the death certificate is genuine; but, the contents therein, are based on wrong information given by one Kumeresan, who is also a Malaysian National, and for the said mischief, a case was registered and the concerned persons were arrested and lodged in prison in Malaysia.
2(x) It is further stated by the first appellant/first respondent in the writ petition, that the writ petitioner is having many alias names viz. Dr. G.K. Raj @ Karunahraj @ G.K. Rajasekaran @ Dharmadevan @ Michael Raj @ Michael Soosai, son of Gnanamuthu and he is involved in the following cases in India:
(i) Coimbatore CCB Cr. No. 38//2010 u/s. 420 IPC.
(ii) Coimbatore CCB Cr. No. 55/2010 u/s. 420 IPC.
(iii) Coimbatore CCB Cr. No. 77/2010 u/s. 420 IPC.
(iv) Coimbatore CCB Cr. No. 83/2010 u/s. 420 IPC @ 120(B), 420 and 109 IPC.
(v) Cheyyur PS (Kancheepuram district) Cr. No. 609/2004 u/s. 147, 148, 364, 417, 302, 201, 120(B) IPC r/w 149 IPC.
(vi) Chennai Airport PS Cr. No. 284/2004 u/s. 365 and 420 IPC.
(vii) Krishnagiri...
To continue reading
Request your trial