NEW DELHI: A trial court cannot send a foreign citizen to a detention centre at the time of granting him bail as these facilities are not meant for judicial custody but for keeping foreign nationals on the basis of an executive order in terms of the Foreigners Act, Delhi HC has said.
Justice Anish Dayal’s order came on petitions by a Nigerian man who was sent to a detention centre by a magisterial court even while being granted bail in a criminal case filed in April 2021 considering that his visa had expired.
Subsequently, a sessions court directed his release from the detention centre subject to certain conditions but the petitioner contended before the high court that he was yet to be released. The court said that once enlarged on bail, the petitioner cannot be detained without following the due process of law when he is yet to be proven guilty.