Delhi HC Seeks Centre’s Response On Academician Ashok Swain’s Blacklisting Plea

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the government to reply to a petition by academic Ashok Swain, who is challenging a blacklisting order that prevents him from entering India. Justice Sachin Datta issued

a notice on Swain’s petition and asked the Ministries of Home Affairs and External Affairs, the Indian Embassy in Sweden and Latvia, and the Bureau of Immigration to submit their responses within three weeks.

The court will hear the case again on December 18. Swain said in his petition that the authorities are acting on a secret blacklisting order, the details and legal basis of which have not been shared with him or checked for proper legal procedures under the Citizenship Act, principles of natural justice, and constitutional protections.

The petition states that Swain, who is a professor and head of department at Uppsala University in Sweden, has been stopped from entering India because of a blacklisting order under the Foreigners Act, as shown in the government’s response to his earlier petition. It refers to the government’s affidavit which said, “the petitioner, Mr. Ashok Swain, is a Swedish national and an OCI cardholder, is a professor at Uppsala University, he had been blacklisted and barred from entering India because of his anti-India writings and inflammatory speeches that harmed India’s image internationally.”

The high court had previously twice overturned the government’s decision to cancel Swain’s Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card and allowed the authorities to issue a new show cause notice. The petition says that even though the law requires fair procedures when regulating entry under the Foreigners Act and cancelling OCI status under the Citizenship Act, Swain is still not allowed to enter his country of origin.

“The authorities have not given any specific reasons or a chance for a hearing, which violates the due process guaranteed by the Citizenship Act, Article 14 of the Indian Constitution, Article 21, and the principles of natural justice,” it says. Swain asked the court to order the authorities to let him enter India on his OCI card, to provide records about the blacklisting order, and to cancel the blacklisting or any other order stopping him from entering.

“Despite two rounds of judicial review, the authorities kept passing orders and blacklisting based only on vague and unsupported claims, the details of which were never even shared with the court. Such secrecy by the authorities shows arbitrariness, and not giving case details or evidence makes all administrative actions invalid under Article 14,” the petition says. Swain also said that his elderly mother, who lives in India, is unwell and he is her only son, but he has not been able to visit India for several years. The Indian Embassy in Sweden and Latvia cancelled Swain’s OCI card under the Citizenship Act on February 8, 2024.