The path is clear for a Perth-based Indian doctor convicted of sexually assaulting a patient to seek a return to practising medicine.
Suhail Ahmad Khan Durani has been successful in his bid to overturn a ministerial decision to deport him after he served more than 18 months in jail for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman while examining her at Royal Perth Hospital in 2010.
In May last year, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruled the 38-year-old could keep his permanent residency despite his jail term.
But former immigration minister Tony Burke overruled that decision the day before September’s federal election – with the government in caretaker mode – and Dr Durani was placed in immigration detention.
Dr Durani, who maintains he is innocent, appealed.
On Friday, the full bench of the Federal Court of Australia delivered a unanimous verdict in his favour.
He was released from the detention centre where he has spent the past 10 months and has had his permanent resident status reinstated.
Asked after the judgment was handed down whether he sought to return to practising medicine, Dr Durani said: “We’ll take it step by step”.
The Medical Board of Australia could not specifically comment on the case, but its registration standards show a serious conviction does not automatically exclude a doctor from practising in the future.
Considering applications on a case-by-case basis, the board considers factors including the gravity of the offence, the time since it was committed and the likelihood of future threat to a patient.
Separately, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison is reviewing Friday’s judgement before deciding whether to appeal it in the High Court.
Mr Morrison’s predecessor said cancelling Dr Durani’s visa was in the national interest because his offending was serious, undermined the integrity of the skilled migration program under which he came to Australia and also reduced public confidence in the health care system.
But the three Federal Court judges disagreed.
“We do not accept the submission on behalf of the minister that the circumstances raised a question about whether the nation is picking the right doctors to come here,” they said.
Dr Durani’s barrister Shahid Shakur said the case – like Mohamed Haneef’s – was “a most unfortunate example of misuse of power”.
“Locking up people like Dr Haneef and Dr Durani, who held valid visas and were lawful non-citizens, not unlawful non-citizens, should be the exception to the rule,” Mr Shakur said.
“It should be the courts to determine whether there is a lawful basis to imprison people, not the minister for immigration as a member of the executive government.”
Dr Durani was happy to be reunited with his wife and five-year-old son, both of whom are Australian citizens.
“I’ve got no words. It’s been a long journey,” Dr Durani said.
“I maintain my innocence but don’t deny my conviction.”