The High Court of Meghalaya has found 17 foreign nationals lodged in a Meghalaya jail despite having completed their sentences.

Fifteen of these prisoners are Bangladeshi nationals, one is a Myanmar national, and one is a Nigerian.

A team assigned by the High Court visited the Shillong District Jail and found that the Myanmar national has been languishing behind bars for more than 10 years, while the Nigerian and the Bangladeshi nationals have spent between six months and a couple of years.

All the foreigners were lodged in the Shillong District Jail. The court team examined the condition of the prisoners and ascertained whether they were receiving the requisite facilities and legal aid. 

Observing the plight of the foreign nationals while hearing a writ petition by the court’s Registrar General on Wednesday, (September 9, 2026), a Division Bench of Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh pulled up Additional Advocate General Khalid Khan for providing “completely misleading and incorrect” information about the condition of the prisons and prisoners through a letter on August 28.

During the hearing, amicus curiae T. Yangi B. said that during her prison visits, she found 11 prisoners who had completed their sentence in three other jails across Meghalaya. She, however, said she was not sure whether those prisoners were foreign nationals or Indians.

‘No detention centres’

The State’s Inspector General of Prisons informed the court that the prisoners have been kept in the jails past their sentence period as there are no detention centres in Meghalaya.

The court observed that the foreign nationals should have been moved to a temporary facility after the completion of their terms, as required by law. It directed the Additional Advocate General to take instructions on how soon a particular place could be designated as a detention centre until a proper one is established.

“We cannot countenance persons being incarcerated in jail, despite having completed their sentence. Of course, the question of compensation will be considered at an appropriate stage for all those who have been kept in prison beyond the period of sentence,” the court said.