New Delhi
The Delhi High Court has issued a notice on a plea filed by Sweden-based professor of Indian-origin, Ashok Swain, challenging the Centre’s fresh order cancelling his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card. Swain had previously filed a plea on the same issue, and the high court on July 10 had set aside the Centre’s earlier order cancelling his OCI card. In this fresh plea, Swain argued that the Centre’s new order lacked proper reasons for the OCI card cancellation and that he should not be targeted for his views on the current government or its policies. Justice Subramonium Prasad, hearing the matter, sought a response from the Centre and scheduled the next hearing for November 9. Swain, a faculty member of peace and conflict research at Sweden’s Uppsala University, pointed out that despite specific directions from the court to provide detailed reasons for the cancellation, the Embassy of India to Sweden & Latvia issued the new order without proper explanation. He also highlighted the urgency of his situation due to his ailing mother in India and his status as the only son. Swain argued that as an academic and researcher, he critiques government policies, and such criticism should not lead to punitive actions. He stressed that criticizing government policies should not be equated with inflammatory speech or anti-India activities. Swain’s OCI card had been cancelled in February 2022 after he criticized the Indian government, despite having not delivered any inflammatory speeches. The OCI card allows foreign nationals of Indian origin to live and work in India indefinitely.
