The son of the suspended Fijian Chief Justice Kamal Kumar will be allowed to return to Australia, despite committing an armed robbery, stalking a partner and stealing a Ferrari.
stuff.co reports that 30 year old Shivneel Kumar is the son of Chief Justice Kamal Kumar, who died suddenly in November from a undiagnosed heart condition.
The Chief Justice was suspended by the President in January after allegations of misbehaviour.
Back in early November, Shivneel appeared before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia after his mother appealed a decision cancelling her son’s visa as he did not meet the character test under section 501 of the Australian Migration Act.
The controversial act holds that non-citizens can have their visas cancelled on various grounds, even if they no longer have ties to their birth country.
Shivneel has been in Fiji since November 2018 after the cancellation of his visa.
However, a recently released tribunal decision set aside the decision under view and remitted the matter back to the Australian Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, saying Shivneel should be granted a visa.
Shivneel was born in Fiji in March 1991 before moving to Brisbane in 1995 for his father to study law.
The family returned to Fiji in 2000. In 2008, the Kumars were granted Australian permanent residency visas and returned to live.
In the second half of 2008, Kamal Kumar returned to Fiji to work as a lawyer before he was appointed as a High Court judge in 2013 and in 2021 after acting as the Chief Justice for two years, was appointed to the role.
Shivneel, his brother and mother all remained living in Australia.
In 2010 or 2011, Kumar was living with his mother and her new partner when he was evicted from the home.
It wasn’t long before he started offending.
stuff.co reports that first with stalking and assault against his former partner. According to the tribunal, Shivneel had been stalking the former partner through text messaging.
By October 2012, Shivneel’s offending had escalated.
He spent two hours in a fashion accessories store before going up to the counter and asking the worker if she was a calm person.
He apologised, told her he had a knife in his pocket, and demanded the money from the till.
Shivneel said he owed a gang member $2000.
He took the knife out, then placed it back in his pocket.
When arrested, he admitted the robbery and told police he had spinal cancer, which was a lie.
The following month, while on bail for the armed robbery, he went to see a Ferrari for sale. He returned to the owner’s home, broke in, stole the Ferrari keys and drove to the Gold Coast “to start a new life”.
Shivneel was then remanded in custody and in 2015 was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, but was released on parole given the time he had spent on remand.
In 2015, he was charged with contravening a domestic violence order after sending 161 Facebook messages to a former partner.
The tribunal heard he has not committed any offences in Australia or Fiji since 2017.
In November 2018, he went to Fiji to visit his father over the Christmas-New Year period. He’s not been able to get back to Australia since.
Shivneel told the tribunal he was regretful, embarrassed and ashamed of his offending. He continues to carry the shame of having disappointed his parents.
Since Shivneel had been in Fiji he’d been living with his father, who had provided him with money and mentoring.
If he were to be granted a visa, Shivneel wanted to study law and hoped to have his own corporate firm or work for a reputable law firm.
He told the tribunal, he feels “very separated” from the people in Fiji and would feel isolated and alone if he had to remain there.
The former Chief Justice gave evidence at the hearing in early November. He told the tribunal he was set to retire from his position and return permanently to Australia in early 2024, allowing Shivneel to live with him.
In Justice Emilios Kyrou’s opinion, he found there was substantial protective factors that would encourage Shivneel to live a prosocial life and refrain from any form of offending.
While one of those protective factors had been removed with the death of Kumar, Justice Kyrou accepted a medical professional’s evidence and Shivneel would not fall into offending even if he was unemployed or living alone.
[Source: Stuff.co]
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