<p>Singapore's activist lawyer M Ravi has applied to the High Court to quash the deportation order of one of the 57 foreign workers sent home for their alleged involvement in the December 8 riot in the city-state.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Ravi is also asking for Rajendran Ranjan's work permit to be reinstated, so that the 22-year-old Indian can continue working in Singapore, The Straits Times reported today.<br /><br />Ranjan had initially been accused of being part of a group of seven men who used a wooden stick, a dustbin and a metal drain cover to smash the windscreen of a private bus which had knocked down an Indian, leading to his death in Little India area in the city.<br /><br />After the prosecution withdrew the charges, District Judge Lim Tse Haw ruled that the seven men had been given a discharge amounting to an acquittal.<br /><br />Four of the men were later issued police warnings, before being deported last Friday.<br />Ravi said that he had written to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority twice last Friday, after his client was taken into custody for repatriation later that day.<br /><br />He had stated his intention to file a judicial review challenging the deportation order, and had also requested access to his client.<br /><br />However, Ranjan was not allowed to be briefed by a lawyer, and was still sent home despite having been acquitted, said Ravi.<br /><br />The lawyer claimed this meant that his client was denied his right of appeal under Section 33(2) of the Immigration Act.<br /><br />Singapore has deported 57 foreign workers, including 56 Indians, and warned some 200 others for rioting, the city state's worst street violence in 40 years.<br /><br />Twenty-five Indian nationals would be charged in court this Friday for rioting.</p>
<p>Singapore's activist lawyer M Ravi has applied to the High Court to quash the deportation order of one of the 57 foreign workers sent home for their alleged involvement in the December 8 riot in the city-state.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Ravi is also asking for Rajendran Ranjan's work permit to be reinstated, so that the 22-year-old Indian can continue working in Singapore, The Straits Times reported today.<br /><br />Ranjan had initially been accused of being part of a group of seven men who used a wooden stick, a dustbin and a metal drain cover to smash the windscreen of a private bus which had knocked down an Indian, leading to his death in Little India area in the city.<br /><br />After the prosecution withdrew the charges, District Judge Lim Tse Haw ruled that the seven men had been given a discharge amounting to an acquittal.<br /><br />Four of the men were later issued police warnings, before being deported last Friday.<br />Ravi said that he had written to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority twice last Friday, after his client was taken into custody for repatriation later that day.<br /><br />He had stated his intention to file a judicial review challenging the deportation order, and had also requested access to his client.<br /><br />However, Ranjan was not allowed to be briefed by a lawyer, and was still sent home despite having been acquitted, said Ravi.<br /><br />The lawyer claimed this meant that his client was denied his right of appeal under Section 33(2) of the Immigration Act.<br /><br />Singapore has deported 57 foreign workers, including 56 Indians, and warned some 200 others for rioting, the city state's worst street violence in 40 years.<br /><br />Twenty-five Indian nationals would be charged in court this Friday for rioting.</p>