Bombay High Court at Goa sets aside deportation order passed against a non-citizen
Title: Olga Rosnina v. Foreigners Regional Registration Office
Decided on: August 7, 2023
Citation: 2023 SCC OnLine Bom 1652
CORAM: HON’BLE JUSTICE M.S. SONAK AND JUSTICE BHARAT P. DESHPANDE
Facts of the Case
The petitioner is challenging the deportation order passed against her by which her VISA extension for foreigners services has been deleted. It was made based on the alleged violation of E-VISA condition subject to which the petitioner was allowed to stay in India. The respondent submitted that there was a violation of the terms and conditions of the E-VISA granted and therefore, the impugned order of deportation had to be made against the petitioner.
Court Analysis and Judgement:
The petitioner argued that there was no violation, and also that such a drastic order should not have been made without minimum compliance with the principles of natural justice and fair play. The Court sided with the petitioner because she had claimed that she had not violated any of the terms and conditions subject to which she was granted the VISA. Principles of natural justice and fair play are an essential concomitant of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. This Article protects not only the citizens but also non-citizens. Whilst the Central Government is vested with wide powers in matters of deportation, such powers must be exercised fairly and without any hint of arbitrariness. Since this was not some case of threat to internal security of the country, there was no need of such a drastic measure. The only allegation was about breach of one particular condition subject to which the VISA was granted. The Court held that at least a clarification could have been sought from the petitioner and upon considering the same, a decision could have been taken. And since this was not done, the Court set the impugned deportation order aside. The petitioner claims to have resigned from the company so that there is no doubt about compliance with the terms and conditions of the VISA. After such resignation, the petitioner has now applied for a dependency VISA. The Court ordered the concerned respondents to consider the petitioner’s application for dependency visa as expeditiously as possible and until this application is decided, the petitioner to not be deported.
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Written by- Reema Nayak
