‘Protection under Article 22 is not citizen-centric’: Karnataka HC frees 2 Nigerians accused of drug peddling, but orders immediate deportation for 10-year overstay

“The constitutional protection under Article 22 extends to all persons within India, including foreign nationals, as it is not citizen-centric but person-centric,” the HC said.

It noted that the Nigerians had wantonly overstayed in India with forged and fake documents after their visas expired in 2015. The HC thus ordered the creation of district and state-level screening committees of the FRRO to identify and deport foreigners who are overstaying in the country without a valid visa.

“The petitioners, on being set at liberty, shall be handed over to the FRRO of the jurisdiction for taking appropriate steps for overstaying without valid documents for more than a decade,” the HC said, while directing the state to constitute screening committees at the state and district level to monitor cases of overstaying and to report to the HC in four months.

The two Nigerians approached the HC last year for their release from prison, claiming that they were taken into custody by the police and produced before a magistrate after the expiry of 24 hours, and without providing any grounds of arrest.

The Deputy Solicitor General of India informed the court that Emeka James Iwoba, alias Austin Noso Iwoba, had entered India on a business visa in July 2015, which expired in October 2015, but had created a fake passport with Iwoba with validity from April 2021 to April 2026, whereas the original medical visa for Austin Noso was valid only for 2016.

The second accused, Uderike Fidelis, was also found to be using a forged passport with a changed date of issue and expiry beyond the original business visa for 2015.

The Deputy Solicitor General of India told the HC that many foreign nationals are overstaying in Bengaluru without a valid visa and that there is gross dereliction of duty by the states in not actively tackling the issue of overstaying foreign nationals.