Mumbai | The Bombay High Court will hear on October 26 the petition filed by actor Imran Khan, a US citizen, challenging a police notice directing him to leave India by October 28 for attending a political protest.
Senior counsel Venkatesh Dhond, appearing for Khan, mentioned the plea on Monday before a bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna, seeking an urgent hearing.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the Union government, sought time as he received a copy of the petition only on Monday morning.
The court then said it would hear the plea on October 26.
Dhond sought an earlier date, submitting that as per the notice, Khan has been asked to leave the country by October 28.
The court then asked if the petitioner (Khan) had any other criminal cases pending against him, to which Dhond replied in the negative.
"He (Khan) has no criminal antecedents and no case filed or pending against him. He has been living in India since he was two years old. He did not even attend any protest. He had reached halfway when he was detained by the police and then let go," Dhond said.
The court then said that a hearing on October 26 would be fine. It directed Khan to add the Maharashtra government as respondent to the petition.
The 43-year-old actor, who had been briefly detained during a demonstration here related to the protests seeking Chief Election Commissioner 9CEC) Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, claimed in his petition that he had not participated in any gathering and had no association with the organisers of the protests.
While he moved the HC on October 17, Khan also received a show-cause notice from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), seeking a clarification as to why his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status should not be revoked, said his lawyer Zulfiquar Memon.
In his petition, the actor claimed the notice issued by the Mumbai police was "illegal, arbitrary, perverse and drastic".
The police notice "reflects patent non-application of mind and the arbitrary targeting" of Khan as a public figure, claimed the petition, filed through advocate Memon and MZM Legal.
Khan sought quashing of the notice, and also requested the court to grant a stay to its operation during the pendency of his petition and restrain the authorities from taking any coercive steps 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.
Khan was briefly detained during the protest at Mumbai's historic August Kranti Maidan on October 10, organised in solidarity with the protests by the Cockroach Janta Party in Delhi demanding the resignation of CEC Kumar over the SIR issue.
The actor claimed that he had no association, affiliation or connection whatsoever with any organisation or institution involved in organising the protest against the CEC.
According to police, Khan was served the departure order after authorities invoked provisions under Section 7 (2)(C) and Section 29 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, which grant powers to the government to restrict the movement of foreign nationals and enforce their mandatory removal.
Under Section 7 (2)(C), the government has the authority to issue directions prohibiting, regulating or restricting the presence of any foreigner, specifically empowering officials to order that an individual "shall not remain in India or in any specified area therein."
Section 29 permits the government to direct the removal of a foreign national for contravening any provisions, rules, or orders of the Act, or pursuant to an adverse security report.
Imran Khan, nephew of Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who has starred in several Hindi films, was directed to leave the country on or before October 28, failing which deportation procedures under Section 29 may be initiated.