Madras High Court directs Puzhal Central Prison Superintendent to inform respective consulates about detention of foreigners

The Madras High Court has directed the Superintendent of the Central Prison at Puzhal near Chennai to report forthwith the detention of foreigners not only to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) but also to the consulates of their respective countries.

A Division Bench of Justices M.S. Ramesh and V. Lakshminarayanan pointed out that Rule 531 of the Tamil Nadu Prison Rules, 2024, requires Superintendents of all prisons to intimate the consulates concerned about the detention of foreigners, without any delay.

However, they found that at least in three cases involving the detention of Sri Lankan nationals, the Superintendent of Puzhal Central Prison had neither informed the MEA nor the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai of their detention.

It was only after the court took note of the issue, the Superintendent chose to inform the MEA, but it still failed to inform the Deputy High Comission. Since there was a mandatory requirement to do so, the judge ordered that the Superintendent must striclty adhere to Rule 531.

The judges recorded the submission of Additional Public Prosecutor E. Raj Thilak that the Superintendent shall immediately inform the respective consulates about the detention of not only the three writ petitioners C. Nalin Sathuranga, C. Sujanthan, and B. Pushparaj, but also other foreigners.

Rule 531 also requires the Superintendent to permit the consulate officials to visit the prisoners, for the purpose of conversing with them and arranging for their legal representation, after obtaining government permission. Therefore, it was absolutely necessary to intimate them about the detention, the judges said.

The interim order was passed on writ petitions filed by the three individuals seeking a direction to the Deputy Inspector General of Prisons, as well as the Superintendent of the Puzhal Central Prison, to arrange for consular visits and permit embassy grievance redressal mechanism.

However, on finding that the preliminary requirement of intimating the consulates about the detentions had not been complied with so far, the judges directed the Superintendent to adhere to it forthwith, and report to the court on July 25, 2025.