MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently denied relief to a former Tamil Nadu man with Sri Lankan Citizenship seeking permission to return to Lanka, in view of a case registered against him for voting in the recent assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
Justice L Victoria Gowri passed the order on a petition filed by one Jeya Ananthan, who was born in Tirunelveli and later moved to Sri Lanka in 2003 to manage his father's business. Thereafter, he acquired Sri Lankan Citizenship and settled in Colombo with his wife and child.
When he visited Tamil Nadu on account of his mother's surgery in April this year, he came to know that his name was still on the electoral roll and therefore cast his vote in the assembly elections.
Following this, a criminal case was registered against him by Tirunelveli police. Though his mobile phone, passport and Overseas Citizen of India card were seized, they were returned to him on condition that he should appear for inquiry as and when required. However, claiming that he is being prevented from returning to Lanka, he moved the high court.
The petitioner's counsel contended that the petitioner did not deliberately suppress his foreign citizenship or attempt to interfere with the electoral process. Since his name continued to be in the electoral roll, he thought he was entitled to exercise his franchise and cast his vote, the counsel added.
Justice Gowri observed that a foreign national cannot claim the electoral rights reserved by law for citizens merely because his name has erroneously or otherwise continued to remain in an electoral roll. Moreover, the petitioner seeks a direction that he be permitted to travel to Colombo 'without any operational interruptions or impediments' from the authorities. Granting such a direction would effectively disable the investigating agency and the immigration authorities even from issuing a valid statutory or judicial restraint during the investigation, the judge opined.
Appropriate safeguards, if foreign travel is sought, must therefore be considered by the competent Criminal Court by examining the case records, the requirements of investigation, among others, she added, and dismissed the petition with liberty to the petitioner to move the competent court.