MP High Court Seeks Clarity On Nationality Of Detained Foreign Citizen; Issues Notices To Saudi Arabia & Bangladesh

Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notices to the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh seeking clarity on the nationality of a foreign citizen. The notice was sent to the embassies on Friday. These notices were issued during the hearing of a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of a foreign national who allegedly entered India illegally.

A habeas corpus petition is a legal instrument used in the High Court or Supreme Court when a person is unlawfully detained.

According to information, Ahmed Almakki was arrested by the Padav police station in Gwalior on September 21, 2014. He was attempting to buy a SIM card using a Bangladeshi passport. At the time of his arrest, he was found with a Bangladeshi passport and a Saudi Arabian driving license. He was sentenced to three years in prison, which he completed on October 22, 2017. Currently, he is being held at the Gwalior Central Jail's detention center. In his habeas corpus petition, he claims that he is being wrongfully detained.

Almakki's sentence was completed on September 22, 2017, but he was kept in the central jail for an additional nine months. On June 12, 2018, while being detained by the police, he escaped from the LIC Tiraha area in Padav police station jurisdiction.

The Padav police in Gwalior later apprehended him from his friend Ismail's house in the Rajendra Nagar police station area under Cyberabad Commissionerate in Hyderabad.

What is the confusion?

Almakki has identified himself as a Saudi Arabian national and has requested to be sent back to his country. However, when he was arrested, he told the police that he was Bangladeshi, he was also found with a Bangladeshi passport and a Saudi Arabian driving license. Given this conflicting information, the court has sought information from the embassies of both countries in Delhi.