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NEW DELHI - INDIA'S Supreme Court has barred two Britons acquitted on charges of sexually abusing boys at shelters for the homeless from leaving the country, reports said on Saturday.
The court ordered Mumbai police not to release the passports of Mr Duncan Grant, 63, and Mr Alan Waters, 58, who were freed from jail earlier in the week after being cleared by the Bombay High Court.
The Supreme Court also asked the men to formally state why they should not be kept in custody until an appeal against their acquittal is heard, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
The Supreme Court hearing came after a children's charity, Childline India Foundation appealed the ruling that overturned the men's conviction, saying there was nothing to prevent the men leaving India pending the appeal hearing.
It said both men had made 'all possible attempts' not to stand trial and if they left the country, obtaining their extradition would be a lengthy process, Mail Today reported.
After the allegations of child abuse surfaced in 2001, Mr Grant was traced to Tanzania and later moved to Britain. Mr Waters was arrested in the United States.
They were brought to India after international arrest warrants were issued.
Defence lawyers had argued the Britons were framed by a 'known' paedophile who paid the boys to complain about sexual abuse.
The men were accused of attacking boys at shelters for homeless youngsters.
Police said Mr Grant had set up the three shelters in 1995 and Mr Waters had been a frequent visitor.
The Bombay High Court ruling overturned a 2006 lower court decision convicting the men of raping youngsters.
The lower court had sentenced the ex-navy men to six years of 'rigorous imprisonment'.
The Bombay High Court dismissed the judgement, saying testimony against them was unreliable.
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