On June 19, 2025 at 7.30AM, a sub-inspector and two constables of Palladam Police Station got a tip about foreign nationals staying at Mr Poongodi’s house in Kunnakaalpalayam. Acting on this tip, the police officers went to the house and found 25 people living there under suspicious circumstances. Since everyone spoke Hindi, the police brought in Mr. Kumar, a Hindi translator, to help with their investigation.
The investigation found that these foreign nationals were poor and had to come to India looking for work because of unrest in their home country. They had been living in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, for quite some time, working as daily-wage labourers in construction. Some of these foreign nationals also had families with children living with them.
During the interrogation, the police officers recovered national identity cards of the foreign country from which these individuals came from. When asked about how they came in Tamil Nadu, the said foreign persons told the police that they came here without any valid Indian visa or travel documents. However, these foreign nationals were not involved in any crime or anti-social activities.
The Palladam Police Station filed the FIR and subsequently the charge sheet also once their investigation concluded. On May 22, 2026 the trial court convicted all of these foreign individuals for violation of Section 14(A) of Foreigners Act, and sentenced them all to two years simple imprisonment each and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each, in default, to undergo simple imprisonment for one month each.
M/s R. Bakiyalakshmi, representing these foreign individuals, filed an appeal in the Madras High Court. M/s Bakiyalakshmi argued that the accused foreign nationals needed work to survive and were doing construction jobs in Tiruppur. They were not doing anything illegal and never had any problems with them during their stay in India.
M/s Bakiyalakshmi also told the Madras High Court that the accused foreign nationals didn’t know the local language and could not read, write and understand Tamil. But the entire trial proceedings were conducted in Tamil. Hence, they were denied meaningful and effective opportunities to understand the allegation and to defend their case.
M/s Sharada Vivek, Government Advocate (Criminal side), assisted by Mr. M.Arul Raj, told the Madras High Court that Mr Poongodi (landlord) told the police that he was totally unaware about his tenants (the accused foreign nationals) being here in his house without a valid Indian visa or documents. Mr Poongodi thought his tenants were from North India. The government advocate argued that, based on the evidence of the prosecution witnesses, supported by the prosecution documents, the trial court rightly convicted the accused foreign nationals.
On September 29, 2026, the Madras High Court upheld the trial court’s judgement of Rs 10,000 fine each and two years’ simple imprisonment but reduced the jail term for non-payment of fine to one month after considering their plea of being poor. However, the Madras High Court also ordered the authorities to deport these people along with their family including children within 30 days of them finishing their jail sentence.
Why did the tenants who were foreign nationals got jailed?
Bhargav KS, Managing Partner at K.S & B.K.S Law Associates, a Bengaluru based law firm, said to ET Wealth Online that the foreign nationals were jailed because the Madras High Court found that they had entered India without valid travel documents. The tenants' defence for migrating to Tamil Nadu for employment and livelihood did not result in their acquittal but the high court considering their poverty reduced the additional imprisonment sentence incase of non-payment of the Rs 10,000 fine.
According to Bhargav, if you are a landlord giving your property on rent to foreign nationals then you should verify the tenants' identity through documents, and not infer nationality from appearance, language or an assumption. Like in this case as discussed, the landlord thought the tenants were north Indian when in fact they were foreigners without documents.
Bhargav says: "A consistent identity-checking process for all prospective tenants is preferable to selective profiling."
For tenants who are foreign nationals, Bhargav says that landlords should inspect the original passport and valid visa or other applicable immigration documents, retain copies securely, and check the authorised period of stay. Under the current Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025, accommodation providers must electronically submit Form III, formerly Form C, within 24 hours of a foreigner’s arrival. Local police tenant-verification requirements should also be checked.
Bhargav says: "If documents are missing, expired or suspicious, landlords should seek verification from the jurisdictional police or FRRO/FRO rather than accept verbal assurances."
Madras High Court discussion
The Madras High Court observed that the foreign nationals came to India owing to unrest in their country and being uncertain about their future and since they were unemployed and and impoverished, they came to India in search of employment and livelihood to sustain themselves and their families.
The Madras High Court also observed that these foreign nationals are neither involved in nor convicted of any economic offence, nor have they enriched themselves so as to assume that they possess the means to pay the fine.
Thus, the Madras High Court said that considering the circumstances of the appellants/accused, there is no doubt that they are very poor, are seeking livelihood, have migrated in search of employment, and are in penury and unable to pay the fine amount.
Considering their pecuniary circumstances and following the principles laid down in Shahejad Khan Mahebukhan Pathan (cited supra), Madras High Court confirmed the sentence of fine of Rs 10,000 imposed on each of the accused and modifies the default sentence of one month Simple Imprisonment to one week.
Except for the aforesaid modification in the default sentence, the sentence of two years' simple imprisonment is confirmed.
Further, in view of the directions issued by the Supreme Court in the case of Maja Daruwala, approving the Circular dated November 23, 2009 issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the exercise of deportation is required to be completed within a period of thirty days, and the said direction is to be followed without deviation or delay.
Hence, the Madras High Court directed the concerned authorities to take appropriate action and ensure that the appellants, along with their children, are deported to their country (Bangladesh) within a period of thirty days after they have undergone their period of sentence and the default sentence of one week.