KATHMDNU:Rejecting arguments from the government, Hong Kong’s top court said expatriate workers and others without permanent residency don’t need permission to re-enter the territory after they travel elsewhere, the AP reported.

The Court of Final Appeal ruled on Tuesday in the case of Kesh Bahadur Gurung, a Nepali businessman who had a valid visa to stay here with his wife, who is a Hongkong permanent resident, but was refused entry in November 1997 after a brief visit to Nepal.

Although temporary residents, including the foreigners who work in this financial center, do not have right of permanent abode, they have the constitutional right to come and go as they please throughout the duration of their visa, the court’s five justices ruled.

Hong Kong argued the non-permanent residents give up their permission to stay as soon as they leave. Chief Justice Andrew Li wrote that such a stance would be unfair, affecting even people” who departed for just a few hours to play golf on the mainland.”

Immigration department spokes-woman Lisa Yip said she had no immediate comment. The case also applies to mainland Chinese who have been given permission to live in Hong Kong but must wait seven years to get permanent residency.

Hong Kong officials said they barred Gurung from entering because he had filed false information. Gurung, a former Gurkha soldier in the British army was tried but acquitted on charges of filing false information.