New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has asked the authorities to deport an Afghan national who was found to be living here without a valid visa after he was arrested by police for allegedly financially and sexually exploiting a US citizen on the false promise of marriage.
Justice Vikas Mahajan quashed the FIR in the case on account of a settlement between the two parties as well as the delay in culmination of the trial while directing the jail authorities to handover the accused to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) for deportation.
It was reportedly between 2016 and 2017 that the accused and the complainant, represented by advocate Manoj Taneja, became friends in the country after the man allegedly faked his identity and fraudulently took about USD 90,000 from her on various occasions.
The police investigation revealed that he was married and had cheated similarly-placed women previously.
In the order passed on October 9, Justice Mahajan observed that the complainant was an educated woman who had voluntarily consented to quashing of the FIR and the accused had been in custody for over seven years. The culmination of the trial, the court underscored, was "nowhere in sight".
The court further said that the right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution is equally applicable to a foreigner as it is to a citizen.
The complainant stated on record that she wanted to move on with her life by giving a quietus to the matter.
"Having regard to the fact that the complainant is not supporting the case of the prosecution, even if the criminal trial is permitted to go ahead, the chances of conviction are bleak... In that view of the matter and to give succour to the complainant, this court finds it to be a fit case wherein exercise of extraordinary powers of this court to quash the criminal proceedings is warranted," said Justice Mahajan.
Observing that the man was a foreign national who did not have a valid visa, the court directed the jail authorities to hand him over to the FRRO, Delhi for deportation.
The FIR in the case was registered in 2017 on charges of rape, cheating and other offences under the Indian Penal Code, Foreigners Act and Information Technology Act.
The FRRO had found that the petitioner arrived in India on a medical visa in July 2013 and overstayed without seeking an extension of his visa, which expired in December the same year.
It was also alleged that the petitioner illegally procured a voter ID card and a PAN card in his real name.