A bench comprising justice A.Sevlam and Justice V.S.Ravi held that the family card of the petitioner showed that they were Sri Lankan refugees.

“The court cannot come to the conclusion that Provisions of foreigners Act 1946 are not applicable,” they said and refused to release hiim from the Sri Lankan Refugee special camp at Puzhal in Chennai.

Petitioner P.Karuppa Thevar submitted that he was an Indian citizen under 1974 pact between the two countries and settled in Jaffna in Sri Lanka with his Indian passport.

As the war against LTTE intensified in 1996, he along with his son Sasikaran and others left Sri Lanka without taking his Indian passport. On arrival in India, they were sent to various refugee camps in Tamil Nadu.

While his son was working in Tiruppur, he was arrested in 2012 for cheating a person to the tune of Rs.One lakh by promising to send him to Australia by a ferry.

He sought to quash the detention order against Sasikaran and release him.