The Bombay High Court will hear on Tuesday a petition filed by actor Imran Khan, challenging a police notice directing him to leave India by October 28 for allegedly attending a political protest in Mumbai.
The plea came up for hearing on Monday before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna.
Khan’s counsel Venkatesh Dhond and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, sought to have the matter listed for hearing on Tuesday. The court accordingly posted the plea for the next day.
Khan 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 the actor, an US citizen, to leave India by October 28.
In his petition, filed on October 17 through advocate Zulfikar Memon and MZM Legal, the 43-year-old actor claimed he had not participated in any gathering and had no association with the organisers of the protest.
He described the police 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.
Khan 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.
“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 also 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, Khan 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, which empower the authorities to regulate the presence of foreign nationals in India and direct their removal in specified circumstances.
Section 7 (2)(C) empowers the government to issue directions prohibiting, regulating or restricting the presence of a foreigner, including ordering 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.