Delhi High Court Overturns Cancellation of OCI Card for Swedish Academic Ashok Swain
The Delhi High Court, on Friday, nullified the Indian government’s decision to revoke the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card of Ashok Swain, a Swedish academic originally from India. This ruling came after Swain challenged the government’s order issued on July 30, 2023.
Justice Sachin Datta stated, "The order dated July 30, 2023 is set aside. The authorities are free to issue a new show-cause notice."
Ashok Swain, who heads the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, had raised concerns about his inability to visit India due to the cancellation of his OCI card, especially since his elderly mother, living in India, is not well. He expressed that he has not been able to travel back for three years.
In his plea, he contended that the government’s justification for revoking his OCI card was not clear. The government claimed that Swain was blacklisted for allegedly promoting anti-India sentiments through his public writings and speeches. However, Swain argued that the cancellation order lacked specific incidents or evidence to support this claim.
Swain, a vocal critic of certain government policies, asserted that expressing dissenting views should not be deemed as being anti-national. The original order, according to Swain, was vague and did not adequately explain the reasons for the actions taken against him, failing to meet the requirements of a reasoned judicial decision.
The High Court noted that on a previous occasion, on July 10, 2023, it had directed the government to provide a thorough explanation while setting aside the earlier decision. Swain’s petition pointed out that the authorities did not comply with this directive and instead reiterated the legal provisions without proper justification.
This ruling may have significant implications for how such cancellation orders are issued and will likely pave the way for clearer criteria in handling OCI privileges in the future.
