The Bombay High Court on Tuesday kept in abeyance a notice directing actor Imran Khan to leave India by October 28, after the Centre assured it that no coercive action would be taken against him till November 2, the next date of hearing.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna adjourned Khan’s plea challenging the notice issued by the Mumbai Police.
During the hearing, an advocate sought to intervene in the matter and raised an objection to the maintainability of the petition. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the Centre, also questioned whether the bench could hear the plea.
The chief justice said the court registry would first verify the issue.
Senior advocate Venkatesh Dhond, appearing for Khan, submitted that the bench could hear the matter, saying, “Your lordships being the Master of the Roster can proceed hearing this.”
The court, however, decided to have the registry verify the issue before proceeding further.
Singh subsequently urged the bench to list the matter on Monday, prompting Dhond to point out that the actor had been directed to leave India by Wednesday.
“Tomorrow he will leave then?” the chief justice asked.
“No Milords, we are giving assurance as we are only seeking time,” Singh said.
The bench then adjourned the matter till November 2.
Khan, 43, was briefly detained during a protest at Mumbai's historic August Kranti Maidan on October 10. The demonstration was organised in solidarity with protests by the Cockroach Janta Party in Delhi, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The Mumbai Police subsequently issued a notice directing him to leave India by October 28.
In his petition, filed on October 17 through advocate Zulfikar Memon and MZM Legal, Khan claimed that he had neither participated in the gathering nor had any association with the organisers.
He described the notice as “illegal, arbitrary, perverse and drastic”, alleging that it “reflects patent non-application of mind and the arbitrary targeting” of him as a public figure.
“Not only is the notice manifestly disproportionate, if implemented, it would reduce the very principles of natural justice that the authorities are duty-bound to uphold, to nothing but a dead letter,” the petition said.
The actor has sought quashing of the notice and a stay on its operation during the pendency of his petition. He has also requested the court to restrain the authorities from taking any coercive action against him.
Khan further claimed that he had no association, affiliation or connection with any organisation or institution involved in organising the protest against the Chief Election Commissioner.
Separately, the actor received a show-cause notice from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), seeking an explanation as to why his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status should not be revoked.
According to the police, the departure notice was issued under Sections 7(2)(C) and 29 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act. These provisions empower authorities to regulate the presence of foreign nationals in India and order their removal in specified circumstances.
Section 7(2)(C) empowers the government to issue directions prohibiting, regulating or restricting a foreigner's presence in India, including directing that the individual “shall not remain in India or in any specified area therein”.
Section 29 provides for the removal of a foreign national for contravening provisions of the Act, its rules or orders, or pursuant to an adverse security report.