Lawyers also said the government has to rephrase charges due to technical irregularities.
Police have been granted a legal extension to detain the doctor for questioning until 11.30 pm local time Monday night.
Mohammed Haneef, a doctor of Indian origin based in Australia, who was wrongfully accused of terrorism, has struck a 'substantial' compensation deal with the Australian government, reports claimed on Tuesday.
Former Australia immigration minister Kevin Andrews and AFP chief Mick Keelty, who have both come under immense criticism for their handling of the Haneef case, have welcomed the probe and offered their full co-operation, but have stood by their actions. Meanwhile, an AFP spokesman has conformed that the investigation into Haneef has remained active.
He is being investigated over possible connections to people with terrorist associations.
In a deft move, the lawyers of Mohammed Haneef, the Indian doctor who was accused of backing a terror outfit, have compared the medico's case to the sensational 'Children Overboad Affair'* that rocked Australia some years ago.
Australian federal police chief Mick Keelty has said that he had personally warned prosecutors that there was insufficient evidence against Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef, who was cleared of terror charges after his arrest over the failed car bombings in the United Kingdom. Haneef, who went back to India following his release, had spent four weeks behind bars in July after being charged with recklessly providing support to a terrorist organisation.
Haneef is charged with recklessly supporting a terrorist organisation and Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Damian Bugg is personally reviewing the case.
If the Australian government had to cancel his visa, why did not they do it when he was charged on Friday, Firdous asked.
Lawyers for Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef, wrongly accused of involvement in the failed Glasgow car bombings, won a bid to fast-track a court challenge to secure confidential official documents relating to his case, on Wednesday.
A play depicting the ordeal of Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef, wrongly accused of involvement in the failed UK car bombings, during his nearly four-week detention in Australia in 2007, will be staged across Australia in February.
"I'm surprised because that is totally contrary to everything he has said up to date," Haneef's lawyer Peter Russo told ABC Radio.
There were "errors of fact" made during the Australian Federal Police (AFP)-led investigation into the case, an official review released in Australia on Friday said.
Haneef, 27, who worked as a junior doctor at the Gold Coast Hospital, was charged with "recklessly" providing support to a terrorist organisation on July 14, following 12 days in detention under anti-terror laws.
Haneef's contact with Sabeel Ahmed, who was the third person to be charged in connection with last month's botched car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow, was about the birth of his first child, Fairfax newspapers reported.
Doctor Mohamed Haneef, wrongly accused of involvement in the failed United Kingdom bombing plot, was awaiting a full clearance from the Australian police before coming back to the country, his lawyer has said. "They're really the ones holding the whole matter up because of the suspicion that they've created by saying things like he (Haneef) is still under investigation," said Peter Russo.
The full bench of the Australian Federal Court on Thursday will hear a government appeal against a judge's decision to reinstate the visa of Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef, who was cleared of terrorism charges after being arrested in connection with the foiled United Kingdom bombings. Prosecution lawyers lodged the appeal in September after Federal Court Justice Jeffery Spender quashed Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews' decision to cancel Haneef's visa.
Andrews had cancelled the visa, saying Haneef had failed the character test provided by immigration laws because he had an association with people suspected of criminal activity, namely his second cousins Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed.
In an interview to The Australian published on Monday, Haneef said the inquiry should be given powers to ensure all documents are released, and witnesses, including Australian Federal Police Chief Mick Keelty and former immigration minister Kevin Andrews -- as well as investigators, prosecutors and bureaucrats -- are compelled to give evidence and face cross-examination.
The Australian police spent a whopping $ 7.5 million probing Mohammed Haneef, who was wrongly accused of terror charges, the country's police chief said on Monday while claiming that the Indian doctor did not have a case for compensation.
"I did not know that the Australian police is so stupid and are charging on something so senseless," she said in an emotionally-choked voice.
Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef, who was cleared of charges in the failed UK terror plot, is determined to regain his Australian visa so that he can return to work in Australia as currently he is unemployed in India.
Mohammed Asif Ali, detained in connection with Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef's case, is believed to be trying to leave Australia as early as Thursday.
The AFP has provided Haneef's lawyers with the transcript of the 12 hours they interrogated the Indian doctor before charging him on July 14 with providing resources to a terrorist organisation.
It was Haneef's decision to give his mobile phone SIM card to Ahmed (with whom he once lived in Britain) that led to him being charged with recklessly providing resources to a terrorist organisation.
Haneef's lawyers today argued that Andrews acted improperly in canceling the visa because he wanted to keep the Indian doctor in jail rather than deport him and this aspect should have been taken into consideration. Solicitor General David Bennett, on behalf of Andrews, told the full bench that changes to the Migration Act set a 'deliberately low bar' for the minister to decide if a person is not of good character because of his associations.
Australian police have admitted they had a secret "contingency" plan to keep Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef, then a terror suspect in the failed terror plots in London and Glasgow, behind bars if he was bailed by a Brisbane court.
Warning of the impact of politics on the legal system, Barrister Stephen Keim said success in the high court may not be enough to guarantee his client's return to Australia.
The immigration officials arm twisted Haneef and his lawyer with 'strong request'
Haneef had become "a bit teary" when they discussed the length of time he already had spent in custody, the lawyer was quoted as saying by The Australian newspaper.
Asking the details of the probe, Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, in a pointed question, to AFP wondered whether the police was on a 'witch-hunt' to justify its handling of the Haneef case and said the Bangalore doctor should be left alone.
Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef, who was wrongly accused of links to the failed UK terror plot, may try to re-register in Australia and apply for a job at Queensland's Gold Coast Hospital, his lawyer has said.
"The distinguishing factor in relation to Haneef from the others was that he was intent on leaving Australia... he had a one-way ticket," Philip Ruddock, the Attorney General said.
However, it's understood the intelligence does not contain information about a terrorist attack in Australia and only believes Haneef to be on the outer edge of a large group of like-minded people.
Prosecutors in the Mohamed Haneef probe were under 'extreme pressure' from the Australian Federal Police to charge the Indian doctor and had no access to vital evidence to judge the strength of the case against him, a public inquiry commission has been told.In a submission to the John Clarke inquiry into the bungled case of the 28-year-old medic accused of terrorism, Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has disclosed how its officers were not supplied with evidence.
The AFP was under pressure to make public some of its submissions to the inquiry since the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation had allowed the public release of an abridged version of its submission in July.
Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said he is pleased with the way Australian Federal Police handled the case.
The DPP review follows concerns about inconsistencies in the case against Haneef.
'If I had known anything, definitely, I would have let the authorities know, let their parents know first -- who are the main sufferers now I suppose,' he said.
A Federal court spokesman said Chief Justice Michael Black will hand down his decision on Friday.
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