The Gujarat high court on Friday issued notices to the Centre, Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the immigration authority concerned over a petition of an NRI. Dhanraj Patel, 30, born in Anand district had come to India for his marriage, but was deported from the Delhi airport based on an endorsement on his US passport that he was convicted of child sexual abuse.
On December 27, Patel landed at Delhi airport from Dubai, but was refused entry to the country and deported immediately. Patel is presently in Dubai, waiting for a clearance for his entry to India.
Patel filed a petition in the HC through his advocates IH Syed and Aftab Ansari. The lawyers informed the court that the offence was registered in 2015 and that he had already served the punishment in 2021.
For the Centre, assistant solicitor general Devang Vyas raised questions on the maintainability of Patel’s petition on grounds that he was not an Indian citizen. He further argued that India has powers to deny entry to a person who is convicted for child abuse in his own country. He submitted that the US had cancelled Patel’s passport on May 23, for they did not have endorsement about his conviction.
It was argued that Patel had therefore obtained an Indian visa on the basis of an invalid passport, and therefore it was cancelled.
The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the country’s immigration authorities cannot allow or deny entry to foreigners at their will and asserted that he had obtained the Indian visa on a valid passport.
Justice Gita Gopi, who heard the case, inquired about the provisions of law regulating such an affair and sought reply from the authorities concerned by Tuesday.
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