US Citizen With Valid Visa Denied Entry Into India Due To Conviction For Sexual Offence: Gujarat HC Issues Notice To UOI

The Gujarat High Court has issued notices to the Union of India and others in a plea filed by an Indian-born US Citizen after he was denied entry into India despite having a valid VISA on account of his conviction in a child sexual abuse case in the US.

The bench of Justice Gita Gopi made the notice returnable on January 3, 2023, after ASG Devang Vyas raised the issue of the maintainability of the petition.

The case in brief

The case relates to one Dhanraj Patel/patel, who was born in India but moved to the US at the age of 17 and has been living there since then. In March 2022, he came to India after being granted VISA for the purpose of registering his marriage, which was solemnized as per the rituals of Arya Samaj. 

Thereafter, both families (of bride and groom) decided to perform the marriage on January 7, 2023, with all religious ceremonies, gruh pravesh, etc, and for the same, the petitioner came to India from the US on December 27.

However, he was denied entry into Indian territory at the Ahmedabad International Airport and deported back to the US on the ground that he had been convicted in a Child Sexual Abuse case. His e-VISA and passport were also canceled.

Aggrieved by the same, he moved the High Court with the instant plea (represented by Senior Advocate I. H. Syed and advocate Aftab Ansari) challenging the communication/notice of the Bureau of Immigration removing him from the Indian Territory.

Before the Court, it was argued by Senior Counsel Syed that the petitioner was denied entry into India despite having a valid visa. It was further submitted that a person can be denied entry in the country only in case of a serious and specific offence which also finds a place in the extradition treaty.

It was argued before the Court, that though he was convicted in the year 2015 for sexually abusing a child in the US, he has already served 100 hours of community service as ordered by a local court in January 2021, and after that, he was neither convicted, nor charged under any other offence, and despite this, his VISA was canceled without giving him an opportunity of hearing.

On the other hand, appearing before the High Court, Additional Solicitor General Devang Vyas argued on the maintainability of the plea on the ground that the petitioner has no right to file a petition as he is not a citizen of India.

"He is claiming entry into India as a matter of right on the basis of some VISA when no details of VISA are found in his plea, when was it issued, no details are there...Under the foreigners' Act, I have decided to deny his entry...On his passport, he has an endorsement that he is a child abuser, convicted, it is enough for me to deny his entry into my country. I am well within my right to do so...Article 14, 19 is not available to him," it was submitted.

However, Senior Counsel Syed for the petitioner argued that the day the petitioner landed in India, he was having a valid VISA. In view of this, the Court issued a notice to the Union of India, returnable on January 3.

The averments in the plea

It was also submitted in his plea that earlier he was granted a valid Visa from month of March until June 2022 and yet, during that period of time, neither the Bureau of Immigration nor the Airport Authorities had engaged in the deportation of the Petitioner back to the USA, however, this particular time, his past offence was taken into account even though after the said incident in USA, he had not engaged in the commission of any other offence in USA or any other country thereof.

Further, he submitted that merely because he has undergone a probationary period for an offence, he cannot be denied a valid entry into the Indian premises.

"...once the County Courts have permitted him to travel and that the Country in which offence was committed hasd issued him a Passport and Visa, it leaves no reason for any other country to bar the person to enter into their premises for a valid reason such as the Petitioners. The Petitioner is only visiting the country for the purpose of getting married and shall be heading back home to the USA. This is neither unlawful nor illegal and his reasons for deportation were unjust and invalid," his plea submits.