Vakil Help Desk News: the Gujarat High Court has held that a person held under a valid deportation order pending removal is not in illegal detention, and dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed on that person's behalf.
Vakil Help Desk News, Litigation & Courts. The Gujarat High Court has held that a person held under a valid deportation order, pending removal from the country, is not in illegal detention — and dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed on her behalf.
The principle, in plain words
A writ of habeas corpus is a remedy against illegal detention — it asks the State to justify why a person is being held. Where the custody rests on a lawful order — here, a deportation order under the law governing foreigners — the detention has a legal basis, so habeas corpus does not lie. The challenge, if any, has to be to the legality of that order through the proper channel, not through habeas corpus.
What this means for you
Habeas corpus challenges unlawful custody; it will not succeed where detention rests on a valid order, such as a deportation order pending removal. We advise on habeas corpus, detention and matters under the laws governing foreigners.