Asylum error judge demands answer

A High Court judge has demanded an explanation from the Home Office of how a failed asylum seeker was mistakenly deported to India.

Jorowar Singh Dhillon was deported on Wednesday, despite an order from Mr Justice Davis saying he should not be.

The 34-year-old spent just a few hours on the ground in Delhi before being sent the 4,250 miles back to the UK.

At a High Court hearing, Mr Justice Davis demanded to know why his original order was not complied with.

Mr Dhillon's 8,500-mile round trip began when he was detained on Wednesday during a routine visit to immigration officials, who decided he should be deported.

I require witness statements setting out the full circumstances as to how it was that the immigration authorities came to do what they did Mr Justice Davis

His lawyers blocked the move, on the grounds that Mr Dhillon was in the process of challenging the failure of his 1996 asylum application in the High Court under human rights legislation.

Mr Justice Davis passed an emergency injunction forbidding his removal, which went ahead none the less.

At Friday's hearing, Home Office representative Caroline Neenan said there appeared to have been a "breakdown in communications".

While Mr Dhillon was in the air, Mr Justice Davis passed a second injunction ordering him to be returned directly to the UK.

He finally landed at Gatwick Airport around 1800 BST on Thursday, where he was again detained.

The Home Office said it was looking into the matter

At Friday's hearing, Mr Justice Davis demanded to see statements from the Home Office explaining why his first order was not complied with.

He said: "I require witness statements setting out the full circumstances as to how it was that the immigration authorities came to do what they did."

Ms Neenan said the circumstances were still being investigated.

In the meantime, the judge said Mr Dhillon should remain in custody pending consideration of his application to apply for a judicial review.

He said the future conduct of Mr Dhillon's case would be considered "on the papers" by a High Court judge "as a matter of urgency".

Mr Dhillon lives in London, where he is said to have a job and strong community ties.