3 Indians, 1 Pak win UK Court of Appeal case over settlement rights

London: A group of Indian and Pakistani professionals on Tuesday won their appeal in the UK Court of Appeal against the British government's decision to reject their right to settle in the country over a controversial national security clause.

The four applicants, three of whom are Indian and one Pakistani, had been refused their Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK under a skilled visa category over perceived dishonesty in reporting their earnings to the UK's tax department.

Their case had been clubbed together for the purpose of the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, which ruled against UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid and found his approach was "legally flawed" to apply Paragraph 322(5) of the immigration rules related to conduct and character.

"The formal result is that each of these four appeals will be allowed," concludes the judgment handed down by Lord Justice Underhill, Lord Justice Hickinbottom and Lord Justice Singh.

"The approach taken by the Secretary of State (Javid) in deciding to refuse the applications for leave to remain in each of these cases on paragraph 322 (5) grounds which we take to have been his general approach in all earnings discrepancy cases was legally flawed," the judgment notes.

The judges conclude that the Home Office proceeded directly from finding discrepancies in reported earnings by the applicants to a decision that they were the result of dishonesty, without giving the applicants an opportunity to "proffer an innocent explanation".