PANAJI
One of the 52 African nationals involved in the infamous Porvorim highway riot in 2013 will walk out of the Detention Centre, where he was lodged in 2024, four months after being acquitted in a drug-peddling case.
The High Court of Bombay at Goa ordered the immediate release of Joseph Ifeanyi Ozoemena, stating that foreigners who are on bail cannot be kept in detention indefinitely, and must be granted a proper visa category to allow authorities to track them.
Ozoemena had approached the Court seeking to set aside the FRRO’s detention order dated July 10, 2024, and requesting directions to the Union government to grant him an appropriate visa.
The petitioner was first arrested in 2013 in the Porvorim riot case, booked for several offences, including attempted murder, after a group of African nationals blocked the highway to protest the killing of their compatriot in Parra. He was granted bail that November.
He was later arrested under the NDPS Act in 2017 and acquitted in March 2024. After the acquittal, the FRRO issued a detention order directing that he be lodged at the Old Judicial Lockup in Mapusa. He currently does not hold a valid visa.
During the hearing challenging FRRO’s order, Ozoemena’s counsel argued that he had applied for a visa on February 27, 2025 but received no response, and relied on the High Court’s August 2025 ruling in the Okoro Emanuel Chimeuecheya @ Eze batch of petitions, where similarly placed foreigners were released. The police submitted that the petitioner was residing illegally in India and justified the detention order.
The Court, after examining previous rulings, reiterated the constitutional protection available to foreign nationals. The Bench observed that a foreigner, on bail, cannot be indefinitely detained in such detention centres and deserves their release provided all mandatory conditions are complied with.
“The Petitioner shall be released forthwith from the deportation centre subject to the Petitioner furnishing his permanent address and mobile number/any contact number to FRRO and with an undertaking that the phone shall be kept operational and active at all times,” reads the order while disposing of his plea.
The High Court also asked the petitioner to report to the local Police Station every Monday while the authorities should decide on the fresh application of visa within eight weeks.
