Allahabad HC grants bail to three asylum seekers from Myanmar charged under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to three asylum seekers from Myanmar, in cases registered against them under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, coupled with charges of cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)..FIRs dated July 28, 2019 were lodged against the applicants - Furkaan Hussain alias Soe Koko, Nauman Ali alias Win Koko and Mohammad Rizwan Khan alias Shine Koko, after they had submitted an application before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as asylum seekers..The applicant’s names appearing on their Burma (Myanmar) passport were different from their names as mentioned in the FIR, the Court was told. .Hence, the applicants were implicated under the provisions of Sections 420, 467, 468. 471 of the IPC and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946..When the bail applications came up before the High Court, the Union of India repeatedly asked for time to respond, leading to successive adjournments. .On Thursday, however, Justice Jayant Banerjee proceeded to pass orders on the matter on the basis of records available, observing that,."Considering the lackadaisical manner in which the Union of India is prosecuting this application, this Court has no option but to hear and decide the application on the basis of the record available."Allahabad High Court.The asylum seekers were represented by Advocates Ayush Khanna and Nikhil Mishra, relied upon a judgement of the Allahabad High Court passed Uzobude Evans E v State of UP wherein similarly placed persons, charged under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, were enlarged on bail..On the other hand, the Court found that Advocate Krishna Deo Rai representing the Union of India was not in a position to prove that the names of the applicants were aliases..The High Court proceeded to order the release of the applicants on bail, subject to a deposit of of Rs.50,000 in lieu of surety, and the satisfaction of certain additional conditions..The High Court has ordered the applicants to surrender their passports. Among other conditions imposed for their release on bail, they were also directed not to leave the limits the Shamli district without prior permission of the concerned trial court..Before parting with the matter, Justice Banerji also directed the trial court to expedite the trial against the applicants and conclude the same preferably within twelve months and without granting unnecessary adjournments to either of the parties..The Court added that the observations made in its bail order should not be construed to have any reflection on the ultimate merits of the case..[Read the Orders here]