The plea filed by actor Imran Khan challenging the Foreigners Regional Registration Office's (FRRO) October 14 direction to him to leave India will be heard by the Bombay High Court on October 26 [Imran Khan Pal v. Union of India & Ors]
The plea was mentioned on Monday by Khan's counsel before a division bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna.
Senior advocate Venkatesh Dhond argued that Khan was served the FRRO notice only because he attempted to attend a protest where he was stopped halfway through and had to go back. He informed the court that the Central government has been served a copy of the petition and requested a hearing on October 21.
However, the Court decided to hear the matter on October 26 so as to give time to FRRO to get instructions on the petition.
The Court also asked Khan's lawyers to make the State of Maharashtra a party to the case so as to ascertain whether Khan has any criminal antecedents.
"Are there any criminal antecedents? Join State as party, so that in case. This is a local matter. So make State of Maharashtra a party," the court said.
In his petition, Khan has contended that executive authorities gave him no prior hearing, bypassed his statutory rights as an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), and acted in hasty while issuing the direction to him to leave the country.
He has alleged that the same was in response to political social media campaigns against him.
The ”Leave India Notice” was issued on October 14 after Khan was briefly detained by the police after taking part in demonstrations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The directive was issued shortly after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya filed an FIR at the Gamdevi police station alleging public-order infractions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
In the petition filed on October 17, Khan has highlighted the unusual haste in issuing the expulsion directive. Khan has alleged that authorities acted under pressure from public social media campaigns by political functionaries rather than an independent application of mind.
The plea contends that the FRRO circumvented Section 7D of the Citizenship Act which mandates a formal show-cause notice and a reasonable opportunity of being heard before revoking an OCI cardholder's lifelong residency status.
Incidentally, on October 17, FRRO also issued a show cause notice asking Khan why his OCI registration should not be cancelled under Section 7D of the Citizenship Act.
However, this has not been challenged by Khan in his petition.
In his petition, Khan has sought an order to quash the October 14's 'leave India' directive alongside an interim stay on its operation.
He has also urged the court to restrain coercive actions such as deportation, lookout notices, blacklisting or interference with his OCI status and sought production of all internal records underlying the decision.
Dhond was briefed by advocates Zulfiquar Memon, Parvez Memon and Chirag Naik from MZM Legal.