Delhi High Court Issues Notice To Centre On Ashok Swain’s Plea Against Fresh Order Cancelling His OCI Card

In his petition, Swain has said that despite “specific and unequivocal directions” of the court to pass a detailed order, the Embassy of India to Sweden & Latvia passed the the fresh order in a “callous manner” by merely para-phrasing the provisions of law.

“The Petitioner has an ailing mother aged about 78 years who is suffering from various medical ailments including Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and other age-related ailments. The Petitioner is the only son, and has not been to India in the past 3 years. Thus, there is an extreme urgency for him to visit India and attend to his ailing mother,” the plea said.

Swain has also said that he is a well-known academic and researcher, and that being an Academician, he analyses and criticises certain policies of the present government.

“He cannot be made to suffer for his views on the policies of the government. As a scholar it his role in the society to discuss and critique the policies of Government through his work. The Petitioner cannot be witch-hunted for his views on the political dispensation of the current government or their policies. Criticism of certain policies of the government would not amount to being an inflammatory speech or an Anti-India activity,” the plea added.

Swain is represented by Advocates Aadil Singh Boparai, Srishti Khanna and Sadiq Noor.

The Embassy of India to Sweden and Latvia on February 8 last year year cancelled Swain's OCI Card under Section 7D(e) of the Citizenship Act.

Case Title: Ashow Swain v. Union of India & Ors