The Karnataka Excessive Court docket has granted bail to a 33-year-old lady, allegedly a Pakistani nationwide, who has spent 16 months in custody along with her two-and-a-half-year-old little one, after being arrested below the Foreigners Act. Granting bail to Khatija Mehreen, who was arrested in 2021 in Uttara Kannada district, Justice Shivashankar Amarannavar stated, “Within the bail petition it’s categorically said that there is no such thing as a prima facie case made out towards the petitioner, however sadly is that the petitioner has change into scapegoat within the hand of the complainant-police and he or she shouldn’t be detained in judicial custody merely on suspicion or doubt.”
A case towards her is pending earlier than the Principal Civil Choose, Bhatkal on varied fees below the Foreigners Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Based mostly on data from the Intelligence Division the police had obtained permission from the Justice of the Peace to conduct a search operation.
On June 9, 2021, the police had performed the search in Bhatkal. Khatija Mehreen, allegedly a Pakistani lady staying in India since 2014 was arrested. The police additionally seized, Aadhar card, PAN card, Ration card, Voter ID and different cast paperwork allegedly in her title.
The lady approached the HC in search of bail, stating that she was in custody for the final one yr and 4 months. She claimed that she was born in Bhatkal in 1988 and studied in Naunihal Centrla College. She was married to Javeed Mohiddin who died on April 22, 2022 when she was in custody. She has three kids aged 7, 5 and a pair of.5. The final little one is along with her in jail. The HC stated that she deserved to be launched on bail.
“The petitioner/accused is already in judicial custody since greater than 1 yr 4 months and lengthy incarceration might not be obligatory because the offences will not be punishable with dying or imprisonment for all times,” the HC stated. It famous that the punishment for which she was charged below Foreigners Act was punishable with most imprisonment for 5 years whereas the fees below IPC towards her had a most sentence of seven years.
“The kid aged 2.5 years of the petitioner is residing along with her within the jail, subsequently for my part, by imposing stringent circumstances the petitioner/accused is entitled to be enlarged on bail,” the HC stated in its current judgement. Nonetheless, the court docket made it clear that she can not have free motion exterior.
“It’s made clear that although the Court docket is enlarging the petitioner on bail, she can’t be given any free actions to wander throughout India as per her whims and fancies until the federal government decides whether or not she must be deported to her mom nation or not,” the HC stated.
Although launched on bail, she will likely be positioned in a “Detention Heart with all amenities and if she is acquitted within the case registered towards her, the Authorities firstly has to take acceptable steps as to the willpower of the petitioner’s nationality by the Competent Authorities and whether or not she continues to be to be deported to her mom nation and thereafter solely acceptable motion will be taken by the Authorities.”
If she is convicted, “the Competent Authorities should take acceptable steps to deport her to her mom nation instantly after finishing sentence,” the HC stated.