Madras High Court dismisses charges against Canadian national

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has quashed a chargesheet against Canadian national Zakaria Farah, who had been unable to leave India for 16 years due to the case. The charges stemmed from an alleged forged exit permit used in 2007. The court found that the prosecution failed to provide evidence of forgery or any prima facie materials to support the charges. The chargesheet was filed in April 2023, nearly 16 years after the FIR was registered, with no acceptable explanation for the delay. The court ruled that the chargesheet could not be legally sustained.