Examine amicus report on foreign prisoners in Delhi jails and give suggestions: HC to Centre

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Centre to examine the report given by an amicus curiae on the challenges faced by foreign prisoners lodged in jails in the national capital and to give its suggestions to improve their plight.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani asked the Ministry of External Affairs to go through the report of the amicus and give its suggestions by July 9, the next date of hearing.

Advocate Ajay Verma, appointed as amicus to assist the court in the matter, in his report has said that foreign national prisoners (FNPs) face various challenges, like delayed trial, difficulty in getting bail and understanding court proceedings due to language issues.

He has said, in his report, that FNPs faced difficulty in getting bail as trial courts were concerned that being a foreigner they may jump bail and it would be difficult to trace them and make them available for trial.

He has said that FNPs, lodged in jails here, told him that Indians who are co-accused in the same case as them are more often able to secure bail and this promotes a feeling of discrimination amongst the foreigners.

Verma has urged the court to "pass directions or guidelines after taking inputs from respondents (government and prisons) to guide the trial courts in this regard.

"It is also requested that in case the FNPs are not granted bail their cases may be expedited."