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Imran Khan is preparing a court challenge to an order that gives the Bollywood actor until Oct. 28 to leave India, after he attended a demonstration demanding that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down.
Khan, a Bollywood superstar and Aamir Khan’s nephew, is an American national who lives in India on an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card. It was at his home in Mumbai’s Khar neighborhood that the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) delivered the notice, a police officer said.
A petition calling the Leave India Notice “drastic” is expected to reach the Bombay High Court as early as Friday. Its central argument is that nothing in Indian law or the OCI regulations bars a cardholder from attending a protest. Zulfiquar Memon, Parvez Memon and Chirag Naik of MZM Legal LLP are handling the case.
Police rounded up upwards of 400 people across Mumbai on Oct. 10, many of them at August Kranti Maidan, where demonstrators had gathered in solidarity with a Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest in Delhi. The Delhi agitation centers on allegations that voter lists were manipulated during the Special Intensive Revision exercise. According to police, nobody had sought permission for the Mumbai event, and Azad Maidan is the sole venue where the Bombay High Court permits protests in the city.
Speaking to reporters before he was detained, Khan said he had no demands. “I am here as a citizen, as someone who lives in this city,” he said.
Police also picked up his girlfriend, actor Lekha Washington, and his cousin Zayn Marie Khan. From inside the van, Khan shared an Instagram selfie captioned “Apparently I’m going for a drive.” He had also taken part in CJP’s July demonstrations.
Gamdevi police have since filed a First Information Report listing Khan among the accused. Kirit Somaiya, a former MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), took a complaint to the same station claiming that Khan’s presence at the protest broke the terms of his OCI status and visa, and police passed it on to the FRRO. Somaiya, who wants Khan arrested and deported and has accused him of “political extremism,” separately asked Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on Oct. 13 for a Look Out Circular that would flag any attempt by Khan to exit India.
No OCI rule addresses whether cardholders can protest, and stripping someone of OCI status is a separate process from a Leave India Notice. The Union Home Ministry has used that power before, revoking the OCI card of Kannada cinema actor Chetan A Kumar, also a U.S. citizen, over “anti-India activities.”
Khan stepped back from acting after a run of films that included “Delhi Belly,” “Mere Brother Ki Dulhan” and “I Hate Luv Storys,” which followed his 2008 lead debut in the Aamir Khan-produced “Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.” He also directed the 2018 documentary short “Mission Mars: Keep Walking India.” He is due to make an acting comeback with “Adhure Hum Adhure Tum.”
