THOOTHUKUDI: Following an objection raised by the counsel of drug trafficker Jonathan Thorn (48), for convicting Thorn under the Foreigners Act, 1946, despite being an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holder, Thoothukudi Sessions Court Public Prosecutor D Mohandass Samuel has informed the court that the conviction is valid under the said Act since he holds an England passport.
On December 31 last year, the Thoothukudi Sessions Court convicted Thorn under section 14 (c) of the Foreigner's Act and awarded him two years of imprisonment. On June 10, 2021, the Q branch sleuths nabbed Thorn, a native of Little Hampton in the United Kingdom, while he was attempting to flee to Sri Lanka through illegal means from Trespuram in Thoothukudi. He also had previous drug trafficking cases pending against him.
Appealing against the conviction, Thorn's counsel said Thorn was a valid OCI card holder and has the right to travel anywhere in India. "Moreover, his alleged plan to escape to Sri Lanka was not proved by the investigation agency," the counsel had said.
Hearing the arguments on April 18, Sessions Court judge Gurumurthy sought clarification about the conviction of an OCI cardholder under the Foreigners Act. When the case came up for hearing on Thursday, Public Prosecutor Mohandass Samuel told the court that the conviction is valid as per the official gazette notification dated March 4, 2021, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The notification says "The OCI cardholder (including a Person of Indian Origin-PIO card holder) is a foreign national holding a passport of a foreign country and is not a citizen of India". Thorn, while holding an OCI card, also has an England passport. So he can not be considered a citizen of India, he argued. The case has been postponed to June 5.