The Supreme Court has taken strong exception to foreign countries refusing to hand over criminals facing serious charges in India.
The apex court on Friday said that the country’s “magnanimity and generosity” should not be taken for granted by the world and that everyone must show reverence to the laws here.
“Our magnanimity and generosity cannot be taken for granted. On one hand, we have always welcomed people from outside with open arms but look at how we have been treated. Here is our country which has been asking other countries to hand over criminals and they don’t. So why should we keep showing the same generosity to others when they don’t respect our laws?” the bench headed by CJI J S Khehar said.
The Supreme Court was hearing a petition by Amir Ahmed Khmes and his brother, both Sudanese nationals, who were allowed by the Indian government to study in a college at Bengaluru after they sought refugee status.
The two reportedly had to flee Sudan after their family members were killed in the internal strife there. While their applications for refugee status were pending before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Indian government granted them the visa to study here.
Incidentally, the brothers left Bengaluru without informing the authorities and came to Delhi.
One of them even went to Sudan for three months and came back in clear violation of the undertakings they had given to the Ministry of External Affairs Affairs.
The brothers were lodged at a detention centre in the national capital for deportation back to Sudan.
