Australia has assured India that once its probe into the case of Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef is over, the issue of the cancellation of his work visa would be dealt with, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here on Tuesday.

The case of Haneef, who was released on Friday last after spending nearly four weeks in a Brisbane jail in connection with the failed UK terror plot, came up for discussion between Mukherjee and his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Asked if India had protested the Haneef issue, Mr Mukherjee said: “What should I protest? We have TADA, we have preventive detention, various countries have various laws. many countries have accepted strong legislation to fight terrorism.”

He pointed out that till 2004 India had TADA where people could be detained under preventive detention for a long period of time till they were tried. Various countries had different laws, he noted.

Mr Mukherjee stressed that it was not a question of an individual’s satisfaction, but of legal procedure. Referring to the suspension of Haneef’s visa, he said: “We have to wait till the investigation is over.” “Once it is over then his case relating to visa would be finally disposed of,” he added.

The External Affairs Minister noted that Australia had its own legal system. “The magistrate had released Haneef of his charges of being involved in terrorist activities. But as per their visa law it is the discretionary power of the minister in-charge if they find that somebody had some association with non-desirable activities,” he explained.