COVID-19 Pandemic: Madras High Court Directs Centre To Permit UK National To Exit India Without Payment Of Penalty For Overstay
The Madras High Court has directed the Centre to allow a UK national to return to his country without payment of any penalty for the overstay. The man was stranded in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The court took note of a submission that Ministry of Home Affairs has clarified that the foreign nationals who got stranded in India on account of Covid-19 Pandemic, may apply for an exit...
The Madras High Court has directed the Centre to allow a UK national to return to his country without payment of any penalty for the overstay. The man was stranded in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court took note of a submission that Ministry of Home Affairs has clarified that the foreign nationals who got stranded in India on account of Covid-19 Pandemic, may apply for an exit permit which would be granted on gratis basis, without levy of any overstay penalty.
Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai bench directed the authorities to expeditiously grant exit permit to the UK national on his renewed passport, so that he can return to his parent country.
"The petitioner, of course, has to pay the normal Visa charges. He also has to furnish all the relevant documents. There will be no penalty on the petitioner. This exercise shall be completed by respondents 1 and 2 as expeditious as possible," said the court.
Timothy Donald Archer, a permanent resident of United Kingdom, had arrived in India in November 2019 as a tourist. After visiting different places, when it was time for Archer to return, the world was struck by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result of the pandemic, Archer remained stranded in India. When he wanted to leave, the Government gave him an exit permit but called upon him to pay Visa charges and penalty for overstay. Though he was ready to pay the visa charges, Archer approached the court to waive the penalty for overstay.
Archer submitted that any payment of penalty would have an adverse impact on him and might make it difficult for him to obtain travel documents from other countries in the future.
He also submitted that a levy of penalty would mean that he had committed a wilful default when in reality there was no deliberate breach of travel visa terms and conditions. The only reason why he could not travel back was due to the pandemic, he said. Thus, it was submitted that there was no ill intention on Archer’s part.
The court agreed with this submission. "I find both these grounds to be justified. If the petitioner has deliberately overstayed in India, then the authorities would be justified in levying penalty of the petitioner. That is not the case here," it said, while allowing the petition.
Case Title: Timothy Donald Archer v. The Foreigner Regulation Registration Offer and others
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 19
Case No: WP (MD) No. 27937 of 2022