The Madras High Court has allowed a Sri Lankan woman, arrested earlier for overstaying in the country, return to her nation. Justice GR Swaminathan gave the direction recently, on a petition from the 19-year-old woman who came to India when she was 16 years on a valid travel document but overstayed.
That led to registration of the impugned FIR and she was arrested, the judge said. Even after grant of bail, she was not allowed to leave the prison.
"In my view, the petitioner has more than suffered the punishment for the offences which she had technically committed. In my view, this can be taken as sufficient punishment. There is no need to subject her to the trial," the judge said.
"The impugned prosecution deserves to be terminated in the interest of justice. It is, accordingly, terminated. I am not quashing the FIR as such. I am only terminating the prosecution. The authorities concerned are directed to permit the petitioner to leave India. Foreign Regional Registration Office, Chennai, is directed to grant the necessary permission to the petitioner," the judge ruled. He also directed the police to return her passport.
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(Published 16 February 2022, 14:18 IST)
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