Imran Khan gets relief from Bombay High Court: Leave India notice on hold till November 2
The Bombay High Court put Imran Khan leave India notice on hold till November 2 after the Centre assured no coercive action. Here is what happened in court
Mumbai: Actor Imran Khan has won temporary relief from the Bombay High Court. On Tuesday, the court put on hold until November 2 a notice that asked him to leave India by October 28.
The notice was issued by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO). Khan is a US citizen. The FRRO acted after he was seen at a protest in Mumbai.
What happened in court
Imran Khan’s lawyer, Venkatesh Dhond, told the court that the deadline was only a day away and asked that no strict action be taken until the case was heard. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh gave an oral assurance on behalf of the authorities that nothing would be done in the meantime.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the FRRO, had asked for more time. A bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna accepted the assurance and said the notice would stay on hold until the next hearing on November 2.
Why the notice was issued
Khan was briefly detained on October 10 at August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai. The protest was held in support of a demonstration in Delhi by the Cockroach Janta Party, which wants Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign over the SIR issue.
The FRRO then asked Khan to leave India by October 28. It cited Section 7(2)(c) and Section 29 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act. The first lets the government restrict where a foreigner can stay in India. The second allows the government to remove a foreign national who breaks the rules or is the subject of an adverse security report. The notice warned that if Khan did not leave, deportation proceedings could begin.
Khan moved the High Court on October 17. In his petition, he called the notice illegal, arbitrary and extreme. He said he had not taken part in any gathering and had no link with the groups that organised the protest. He also said he was being singled out because he is a public figure.
The petition said the notice would make the principles of natural justice meaningless if carried out. Khan has asked the court to cancel the notice, stay it while the case is pending and stop the authorities from taking any strict action against him.
A separate OCI notice
Khan has also received a show-cause notice from the FRRO. It asks why his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status should not be cancelled.
Khan, 43, is the nephew of actor Aamir Khan and has acted in several Hindi films.