Dr Mohammed Haneef’s right to return to Australia to work, which was taken away by the country’s immigration authorities on ‘character grounds’, has been reinstated by the Brisbane federal court. Haneef was detained for about three weeks on charges that he had extended “reckless support” to a terrorist organisation. Australian authorities claimed that he had handed over his SIM card to his cousins Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed, implicated in the unsuccessful terrorism attacks in London and Glasgow in early July. With the case against him collapsing – the evidence was found to be not just flimsy but worse, doctored - Haneef was subsequently freed. However, Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews revoked Haneef’s visa on the grounds that he had associations with people whom the minister “reasonably suspected” of involvement in criminal conduct. Now the court has ruled that immigration authorities applied the wrong character test as the criterion for cancelling his visa. The improper handling of the Haneef case by Australian Federal Police and Immigration authorities had severely undermined Australia’s credibility as its government was widely seen to have acted unfairly in dealing with Haneef. That has now been corrected by the judiciary. Unlike the ruling party in Australia, which appears to have acted with an eye on the upcoming general elections, the Australian courts went strictly by the law in issuing their verdicts whether it was with regard to granting Haneef bail when the evidence was found to be inadequate or to returning his revoked work visa. 
 The Australian judiciary deserves a pat on the back for its swift delivery of justice, as well. In India, there are lakhs of people who are languishing in jails for years, without charges being filed against them or their cases coming up for trial.  Even as they wait for a sluggish judiciary to act, their lives are ruined.
Haneef – his harrowing experience of being detained and labelled a terrorist notwithstanding - is indeed a very fortunate man. In little over a month of his detention, he has not only been able to return home but is now free to return to Australia to pursue his career. This has been possible because the Australian courts acted promptly to deliver justice. There are lessons in the Haneef saga that India’s justice system would gain from.