Claiming that an Indian citizen whose forefathers were tea estate workers in Sri Lanka has been wrongfully detained under the Foreigners Act, his father has filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madras HC (MaduraiBench) seeking his release.
In his petition, Karuppa Thevar said he was a native of Madurai and was issued an Indian passport in June 1970.His son Sasikaran was born in Sri Lanka and four years later he and his family had returned to India and are living in Tirupur where they have been identified as Sri Lankan Tamil refugees.
Recently, the Kanyakumari police arrested Sasikaran on charges of cheating and also booked him under Section 14 (c) of the Foreigners Act 1946. The prosecution’s case is that Sasikaran had cheated a refugee by promising to send him to Australia and taking money. His counsel argued being an Indian citizen Sasikaran cannot be detained under the Foreigners Act.