Imran Khan apologises in Bombay HC over CEC protest; court says OCI holders cannot protest, stays notice

Khan challenged the notice in the High Court, and an Outlook report describes his side calling the notice vague and demanding the evidence behind it. The Maharashtra government told the court on Monday that a case had been registered, that Khan had posted about the demonstration on social media, and that his denial of having taken part was misleading. It said foreign nationals who violate visa conditions must face consequences.

In court on Monday

Khan's lawyer said that he apologised unconditionally and undertook not to join any protest in future 'in any form'. The court said any apology had to be unconditional. The lawyer added that if Khan had unintentionally commented on the protest online or to the media, he regretted it. Khan told the court that, apart from two years in the United States, he has lived in India all his life, that it is his home, and that his child, work and family are here. His team said he has never been affiliated with any party or group behind the protests, had never been summoned for questioning, and has been looking for work since 2006. The court noted that he was born in India, works here and has lived here since childhood.

The Chief Justice questioned why Khan had not protested during all his years in India and said such conduct 'would not be tolerated'. 'Go to USA and participate in protests there,' he said. He said that in another country the person would have been deported by now and that a similar act in the United States would have led to deportation on the next available flight. The bench asked why Khan had not applied for Indian citizenship. It said that, as an OCI cardholder, Khan has no connection with the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls, and it warned that there should be no repeat of a violation of OCI rules.

What the law says about OCI

An OCI card gives a foreign citizen of Indian origin lifelong visa-free entry and the right to live and work in India. It does not give citizenship. OCI cardholders cannot vote or contest elections, and the freedoms of speech and assembly in Article 19 of the Constitution apply to citizens. The OCI rules do not specifically list attendance at a protest as an activity needing permission, which is the gap the case turns on. OCI registration can be cancelled under Section 7D of the Citizenship Act on grounds including sovereignty and security.

India has used the power before. In 2019 a Norwegian national was asked to leave after taking part in an anti-CAA protest, and in 2022 the Home Ministry cancelled the OCI status of Kannada actor and activist Chetan Ahimsa. In Khan's case, the government has so far moved through a leave-India notice and a show-cause notice, not a cancellation.

The leave-India notice stays in abeyance until the next hearing on 7 December. Khan still has to submit his response to the show-cause notice about his OCI registration, together with the apology and the undertaking, and the final decision on that proceeding is pending. The court has asked the state government to file its reply. For Khan, the stay removes the immediate threat of having to leave the country where he was born, but the outcome of the show-cause proceedings will decide whether his OCI status survives.

The case has drawn reaction from the film industry, with filmmaker Ashoke Pandit backing the notice. It also raises a wider question about where the line lies between the political rights of citizens and the limited rights of overseas cardholders, which the High Court will have to address on 7 December if the dispute is not settled before then.