- 1 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:23028 CRL.P No. 6550 of 2026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 25TH DAY OF APRIL, 2026 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.NAGAPRASANNA CRIMINAL PETITION NO. 6550 OF 2026 BETWEEN: PAUL MMADUAUCHUKW @ EZENWA S/O LATE PETER AGED ABOUT 38 YEARS, NIGERIAN NATIONAL, RESIDING AT, KITHANGANOOR VILLAGE (MEDAHALLI), BIDARAHALLI HOBLI, BENGALURU EAST TALUK. ETC NO:NHC/NS/12815 PRESENTLY DETAINED AT FOREIGNERS RESTRICTION CENTER, SONDEKOPPA, NELAMANGALA TALUK, BENGALURU – 562 123. …PETITIONER (BY SRI SOMANNA K.P., ADVOCATE) AND: 1. STATE OF KARNATAKA BY AVALAHALLI POLICE STATION, BENGALURU RURAL DISTRICT, REPRESENTED BY SPP, HIGH COURT BUILDING, BENGALURU – 560 001. 2. DIVYA YADUKRISHNAN, W/O YADUKRISHNAN, Digitally signed by SANJEEVINI J KARISHETTY Location: High Court of Karnataka - 2 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:23028 CRL.P No. 6550 of 2026 AGED ABOUT 43 YEARS, RESIDING AT, 232, PADMASHREE LAYOUT, KATIGANURU, BIDRAHALLI, HOBLI, BENGALURU DISTRICT – 560 049. 3. FOREIGNERS REGIONAL REGISTRATION OFFICER 5TH FLOOR, 'A' BLOCK BMTC BUS STAND BUILDING SHANTHINAGAR, K.H. ROAD BENGALURU – 560 027. …RESPONDENTS (BY SRI B.N.JAGADEESHA, ADDL.SPP FOR R-1; SRI SHANTHI BHUSHAN, DSGI FOR R-3) THIS CRL.P FILED U/S 528 BNSS PRAYING TO A. QUASH THE ENTIRE PROCEEDINGS IN S.C NO.184/2011, FOR THE OFFENCE PUNISHABLE UNDER SECTION 397 OF THE INDIAN PENAL CODE, IN SO FAR AS THE PETITIONER IS CONCERNED, PENDING ON THE FILE OF THE 6TH ADDL. DISTRICT JUDGE BENGALURU RURAL; B. SET ASIDE THE ORDER BEARING NO.FRRO/BOI/BLR/MRO/2022-182 DATED 30.05.2022 AT ANNEXURE E ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT, SUBSEQUENTLY ISSUE DIRECTION TO THE 2ND RESPONDENT TO ENLARGE THE PETITIONER HEREIN FROM THE FOREIGNERS RESTRICTION CENTER. THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR ADMISSION, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: - 3 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:23028 CRL.P No. 6550 of 2026 CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.NAGAPRASANNA ORAL ORDER Petitioner – accused No.1 is before this Court calling in question proceedings in S.C.No.184/2021 (arising out of Crime No.13/2014), pending before the 6th Additional District Judge, Bengaluru Rural District, Bengaluru, for the offence under Section 397 of the IPC. 2. Heard Sri Somanna K.P., learned counsel for petitioner, Sri B.N.Jagadeesha, learned Additional State Public Prosecutor for respondent No.1 and Sri Shanthi Bhushan H., learned Deputy Solicitor General of India for respondent No.3. 3. The petitioner – a Nigerian national, gets embroiled in a crime in Crime No.13/2014 for offence punishable under Section 394 of the IPC – ‘Robbery or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt’. The police conduct investigation and file their final report – charge sheet for the afore-quoted offence. The concerned Court on perusal of the offences in the charge sheet commits the matter to the Sessions Court, on the score that the allegations in the charge sheet would indicate the ingredients of the offence punishable under Section 397 of - 4 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:23028 CRL.P No. 6550 of 2026 the IPC, which is triable exclusively by the Sessions Court. Thereafter, the proceedings in S.C.No.184/2021 is in progress. The issue before this Court is not with regard to the merit of the matter. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner at this juncture would submit that the petitioner is wanting to go back to his country in terms of the Standard Operating Procedure. It is his submission that the petitioner has no travel documents i.e., visa, passport or other documents required to travel to his country and therefore, seeks a direction to respondent No.3 to facilitate the petitioner to go back to his country. He would submit that even today, the petitioner is in the detention centre at Foreigners Regional Registration Office. 5. Sri Shanthi Bhushan H., learned Deputy Solicitor General of India appearing for respondent No.3 – the Foreigners Regional Registration Office would submit that steps will be taken in terms of the Model Standard Operating Procedure (‘SOP’ for short). - 5 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:23028 CRL.P No. 6550 of 2026 6. I have given my anxious consideration to the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and have perused the material on record. 7. The afore-narrated facts are not in dispute. The petitioner hails from Nigeria. The proceedings before the Sessions Court is in progress. The plea of the petitioner before this Court is that, he wants to go back to his country - Nigeria. The issue would be whether pending prosecution against the petitioner for the afore-quoted offence, can the petitioner be sent back to his country - Nigeria. The Government of India on 25.11.2025, has issued a Standard Operating Procedure, governing the withdrawal of prosecution in cases involving foreign nationals, with the avowed objective of facilitating their deportation. The preamble to the said SOP records circumstances which necessitated its formulation. The preamble is as follows:- “I am directed to say that misuse of legal procedures by certain foreign nationals who intentionally implicate themselves in criminal offences to delay deportation or gain prolonged stay in the India has been observed by the Law Enforcement Agencies in various States/UTs. Once the case is registered, these foreigners use various legal and procedural tactics viz., repeated - 6 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:23028 CRL.P No. 6550 of 2026 adjournments sought on medical grounds, change of counsel, filing frivolous applications before the trial Court such as bail & discharge, absconding between hearings, claiming refugee status on frivolous ground during pending trial and by challenging various stages of trial procedure in higher courts. These tactics have often resulted in prolonged under trial detention or bail with restrictions, effectively allowing them to remain in India for years and expand their criminal activities, gangs and organized crimes in the country. 2. This matter came up for consideration at the DGsP/IGsP Conference, 2024, when it was inter alia decided that a comprehensive policy/legal framework to prevent misuse of judicial process by foreigners to overstay may be formulated by the Ministry of Home Affairs, in consultation with all stakeholders. It was further decided that the policy may examine withdrawal of cases where punishments were less than 7 years to facilitate deportation. 3. Accordingly, the matter regarding framing of a model Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for withdrawal from prosecution in cases filed against foreigners to facilitate their deportation has been examined by this Ministry in consultation with various stakeholders. Based on the inputs received from various stakeholders, a model SOP has been prepared in this regard within the framework of Section 360 of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023) and a copy of the same is enclosed. 4. The model SOP indicates the types of cases where withdrawal from prosecution may be considered against the foreigners, types of cases where such withdrawal from prosecution may not be considered and the detailed procedure that may be followed by State/UT prosecuting agencies and central prosecuting agencies for withdrawal from prosecution in such cases. Review of such cases by two Committees i.e., one District Level Screening Committee and another State Level Screening Committee in cases filed by State/UT prosecuting agencies is envisaged in the model SOP. In cases - 7 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:23028 CRL.P No. 6550 of 2026 filed by central prosecuting agencies, it has been suggested that they may consider constituting an Agency Screening Committee to review such cases. 5. The objective of this model SOP is to prevent misuse of the judicial process by foreigners to prolong their stay in India. This will facilitate early deportation of such foreigners from the country and will also help in conservation of valuable judicial resources. 6. State/UT prosecuting agencies and central prosecuting agencies are advised to consider adopting the enclosed model SOP, by taking approval of the respective competent authorities, for withdrawal from prosecution in respect of cases filed against foreigners. Steps taken in this regard may please be intimated to this Ministry at the earliest.” (Emphasis supplied) It is observed that certain foreign nationals have been misusing the legal process of the country by deliberately implicating themselves in criminal proceedings, so as to thwart or delay deportation and thereby prolong their stay within the territory of India. The background to bring in the SOP reads as follows: “1. Background Misuse of legal procedures by certain foreign nationals who intentionally implicate themselves in criminal offences to delay deportation or gain prolonged stay in India has been observed by the Law Enforcement Agencies in various States/UTs. Once the case is registered, these foreigners use various legal and procedural tactics viz., - 8 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:23028 CRL.P No. 6550 of 2026 repeated adjournments sought on medical grounds, change of counsel, filing frivolous applications before the trial Court such as bail & discharge, absconding between hearings, claiming refugee status on frivolous ground during pending trial and by challenging various stages of trial procedure in higher courts. These tactics have often resulted in prolonged under-trial detention or bail with restrictions, effectively allowing them to remain in India for years and expand their criminal activities, gangs and organized crimes in the country. In the DGsP/IGsP Conference, 2024, it was inter-alia decided as under: “A comprehensive policy/legal framework to prevent misuse of judicial process by foreigners to overstay, to be formulated by MHA, in consultation with all stakeholders, including MEA, IB and legal officers. The policy would examine withdrawal of cases where punishments were less than 7 years, to facilitate deportation.”.” The types of cases where withdrawal of prosecution is to be considered are as follows: “3. Types of cases where withdrawal from prosecution may be considered against the foreigners. (i) An offence registered under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) which is compoundable under Section 359 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023(Act 46 of 2023). (ii) An offence registered under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) which carries a punishment of imprisonment of up to 7 years. (iii) An offence registered under any Central Act, including the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 (13 of 2025) and its predecessor Acts, but other than Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) - 9 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:23028 CRL.P No. 6550 of 2026 Act, 1985 (61 of 1985) or any State Act which is compoundable and/or where the punishment provided for the offence in the Act is imprisonment of up to 7 years. (iv) An offence under the NDPS Act which carries a punishment of imprisonment up to ten years. (v) Cases involving inexpediency of prosecution where trial is pending for more than five years.” (Emphasis supplied) In the light of the afore-quoted Standard Operating Procedure and the submissions of the learned Deputy Solicitor General of India, this Court deems it appropriate to quash the impugned proceedings against the petitioner. 8. For the aforesaid reasons, the following: ORDER (i) Criminal Petition is disposed. (ii) The entire proceedings in S.C.No.184/2021, pending before the 6th Additional District and Sessions Judge, Bengaluru Rural, only against the petitioner, stand quashed. (iii) The petitioner shall obtain emergency travel documents from the Consulate of Nigeria and place it before respondent No.3, forthwith, to enable the petitioner to move out of the shores of this nation. - 10 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:23028 CRL.P No. 6550 of 2026 (iv) Respondent No.3 – the FRRO shall take appropriate steps to deport the petitioner to his country – Nigeria, without brooking any delay, at the costs of the petitioner. Ordered accordingly. I.A.No.1/2026 stands disposed, as a consequence. Sd/- (M.NAGAPRASANNA) JUDGE NVJ List No.: 4 Sl No.: 33