The Punjab And Haryana High Court in the case Mohammad Rahim Ashori and others v. State of Haryana observed and has granted the bail to three Afghan residents who overstayed after the expiry of their visas and the passports. The court observed that the trial in the case is processing at the slow place, wherein the accused persons had already been in custody for over the period of two years.
The bench headed by Justice Manoj Bajaj in the case observed and has stated that it being not the case that the petitioners were indulging in any illegal activities or commission of crime and they are being prosecuted for over staying in India after expiry the of their passport and visa.
In the present case, the plea was moved before the court of three Afghan residents who were booked as stated under Section 7 and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and Section 12 (1A) of the Passports Act, 1967, in Gurugram for overstaying after the expiry of the visas of them.
The court observed that as per the prosecution, the secret information was being received that the three Afghan residents named, Rahim Ashori, Hameedullah Salari, and Abdul Basir, were residing without valid visas and passports. It was alleged before the court that during the said raid it was found that they could not produce valid passports and visas.
The counsel, Advocate Dilwar Hussain appearing for the petitioner submitted before the court and has highlighted that the maximum sentence that can be imposed for the alleged offense is five years and that they have been already in custody for the period of two years and eleven months.
Further, it has also been submitted by him that the charges which are framed on May 29, 2023, but as of now only two prosecution witness have been examined out of total nine witnesses and the said trial will take the long time to conclude.
The court while considering the facts and circumstances noted that the said case was filed in the month of October, 2021 whereupon the charges are being framed in May, 2023.
The court stated that trial is progressing at a slow pace as till date only two prosecution witnesses have been examined.
The bench of Justice Bajaj in the case observed and has stated that the conclusion of trial will take a long time and that the further detention of the petitioners behind the bars may not serve any useful purpose.
Accordingly, the court granted the bail to all the accused person in the case.
The counsel, Advocate Dilwar Hussain, appeared for the petitioner.
The counsel, Sr.DAG, Sukhdeep Parmar represented Haryana.
