Nigerian court nullifies deportation of Indians

ABUJA: A Nigerian court has quashed the deportation order of three India-born British businessmen brothers, who were deported by the government in April after the country's anti-graft agency sealed one of their companies over a fraud petition.

The Federal High Court also rejected repatriation of expatriate staff of their company restored the withdrawn expatriate quota for Stallion Group owned by Sunil Vaswani, Haresh Vaswani and Mahesh Vaswani.

Justice A M Liman ruled that Vaswanis cannot be deported, government cannot withdraw their expatriate quotas and repatriate their staff without complying with Nigerian laws.

The Judge held that failure of the relevant authorities to seek and obtain representation from Stallion Group before the prejudicial action against them is a breach of their fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

The India-born businessmen, who carry British passports, were deported in May 2003 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo but were pardoned by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua on December 12, 2007.

The three brothers were again deported from the country with their expatriate staff, mostly from India and Korea, in April this year after Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission sealed Honda Place, a subsidiary of Stallion group, over a fraud petition.

But Vaswani brothers challenge the deportation order in court.

More than twenty top officials of the Stallion Group mostly Indians, Koreans and Filipinos, were sent out of the country on April 10.

"This is more particularly so as all the companies within the Stallion Group were duly incorporated in Nigeria and are Corporate Citizens of Nigeria," the Judge said.

In a statement today, the Stallion group said: "We are grateful to the Honourable President of Nigeria for his gracious support of the due process in our case and are thankful that justice has finally been delivered." They saud they are not engaged in acts of economic sabotage.