85-year-old Pakistani national moves Delhi HC to send him back home

An 85-year-old Pakistan national, stuck at a detention centre here for more than eight months after having served a 12-year-jail term for conspiring to smuggle heroin, has moved the Delhi High Court to send him back home.

The Lahore resident's plea for deportation came up for hearing before Justice A K Pathak who sought response of the Centre and the Delhi government before February 2.

Mohd Hanif has contended that he was being "unnecessarily kept at the detention centre" at Lampur in Narela here since April 6 last year after having served his sentence.

He has also claimed that the Pakistan High Commission has cleared his name for deportation.

"Issue show cause notice to the respondents. The central government standing counsel accepts the notice for the respondent no.1 (the Ministry of Home Affairs) and the additional standing counsel accepts notice for the respondent no.2 (the Delhi government) and seek time to file status report.

"Let it be filed within three weeks. List the matter on February 2, 2017," the court said.

Hanif was first arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in 1996 in a drug smuggling case and was later acquitted by both the trial court in October 2001 and later by the high court in March 2016 after the agency moved an appeal.

Meanwhile, he was arrested in another drug smuggling case in September 2003 and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by the trial court in April 2011.

However, on his appeal, the high court had reduced the jail term to 12 years, as per his petition for deportation.

--PTI