By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : A full bench of the Federal Court of Australia Thursday reserved its decision on a visa appeal of Indian doctor Muhammad Haneef, who had been incarcerated here before terrorism charges against him were dropped.
The court heard the appeal by Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews against Justice Jeffery Spender’s decision in August to reinstate Haneef’s ‘457 work visa’.
Justice Spender had ruled that Andrews made a jurisdictional error when he cancelled Haneef’s visa on character grounds. However, Solicitor-General David Bennett QC argued that Andrews had wide-ranging discretionary power to take such action.
According to the Australian Associated Press, Haneef’s lawyers will attempt to counter a federal government appeal against the return of his visa with evidence of emails between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and immigration officials.
The Australian newspaper on Nov 2 had revealed an email, obtained by Haneef’s lawyer Peter Russo under Freedom of Information laws, on a contingency plan between the immigration department officials and the AFP to keep Haneef, a former Gold Coast registrar, behind bars after Brisbane Magistrate Jacqui Payne granted him bail on July 16.
The email said, “Contingencies for containing Mr Haneef and detaining him under the Migration Act, if it was the case he was granted bail on Monday, were in place as per arrangements today.”
The 27-year-old doctor from Bangalore was incarcerated for three weeks after being charged with supporting a terrorist organisation by “recklessly” giving his mobile phone SIM card to people planning the London and Glasgow bomb.
While Andrews has denied he had any knowledge of the email, the AFP has said it was part of “normal operational contingency planning”.
Outside the Federal Court in Brisbane, a small group of Australians Thursday protested against the way Haneef was being treated, demanding justice for the doctor who has since returned home to Bangalore after terrorism charges against him were dropped and Andrews cancelled his work visa. The hearing continues.