Judge overturns Haneef visa ban

Mohamed Haneef has always denied any links with terrorism

A court in Australia has overturned a government decision to cancel the visa of an Indian doctor briefly charged over failed bomb attacks in the UK.

The court ruled that the government had erred when it cancelled Mohamed Haneef's visa on character grounds.

Dr Haneef was accused of links with failed attacks in London and Glasgow.

But all the charges against him were dropped after Australia's chief prosecutor reviewed the case and said a mistake had been made.

The BBC's Nick Bryant, in Sydney, says the court's decision will be a major embarrassment for the Australian government.

It first cancelled Dr Haneef's work visa after a magistrate granted him bail, then refused to reinstate it when charges against him were dropped.

Dr Haneef, who has now returned to India, has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

'Wrong test'

At a hearing in Brisbane, Justice Jeffrey Spender ruled that Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews used the wrong criteria when he revoked Dr Haneef's visa.

HANEEF CASE TIMELINE 2 July: Arrested in Brisbane 14 July: Charged with providing "reckless support" to terrorism 16 July: Granted bail, but kept in custody after work visa revoked 27 July: Charges dropped 29 July: Returns to India 21 Aug: Court overturns government visa decision

"The minister cancelled the visa by adopting a wrong criterion; he fell into jurisdictional error by applying the wrong test," he said.

"That error infects the cancellation decision. It follows that the decision must be set aside."

The new ruling does not mean that Dr Haneef's visa will automatically be reinstated. In fact, the government has already decided to appeal against the verdict.

"When I made the decision to cancel Dr Haneef's visa, I made it in the national interest and I stand by that decision," Mr Andrews told reporters.

UK relatives

Dr Haneef had been working at a hospital on Australia's Gold Coast when he was arrested on 2 July. He was held for several days before being charged with giving "reckless support" to terrorism.

A magistrate granted him bail, but within hours Mr Andrews had revoked his employment visa, allowing the authorities to keep him in detention.

When key evidence linking Dr Haneef to the suspects in the UK attacks was found to be flawed, the charges were dropped, but not the visa ruling.

Dr Haneef's defence team has argued that the immigration laws were applied simply to keep him behind bars while the criminal case against him was falling apart.

Dr Haneef is the cousin of Sabeel Ahmed, one of three people charged in the UK over the failed attacks.

Mr Ahmed's brother, Kafeel, was the driver of a jeep which crashed into Glasgow Airport in flames on 30 June. He died from his injuries earlier this month.