Delhi HC Asks Centre List Of Activities Allowed On Business Visa As US Woman Challenges Her Blacklisting [Read Order]

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought to know from the Centre criteria and list of activities that are allowed to be carried out by a person holding a business visa.

The court asked the Centre to produce the information sought while hearing the plea of a US entrepreneur who was blacklisted and denied entry into India and asked how she had violated the said criterion.

The court’s order comes on a petition moved by Kasha Elizabeth Vande seeking modification of a March 12 order of the high court as she was not satisfied with the reasons supplied to her by the Centre for blacklisting her.

The 48-year-old Kasha was detained at the Chennai airport on January 5 and was deported and blacklisted thereafter.

Kasha claimed she has never violated her visa norms during her stay in India since 2004 and that she was blacklisted and deported out of India without a chance of a hearing, and without being provided detailed reasons of her being blacklisted.

Kasha’s counsel Shoumendu Mukherji and Raghav Awasthi shared that Kasha had first moved court on March 9 challenging the government’s decision of blacklisting her and praying that she be allowed to enter India during the pendency of the writ petition.

“The pressing urgency on part of the Petitioner is that she is the organizer of the popular photo exhibition "PondyPHOTO" which was scheduled to be held this year in Puducherry. The said photo exhibition is widely popular around the world attracting various artists, high sponsorship, as well as a partnership by the Govt. of Puducherry, positively impacting tourism and economy of Puducherry,” said Mukherji.

The single judge on March 12 issued notice on the interim relief application but did not grant any interim relief following which Kasha moved on appeal. The division bench on May 2 directed the Centre to provide a copy of the reasons of her blacklisting within five days.

“However, what was received by the Petitioner was only a one-page document containing hardly any detail, and no further information over and above what was already in the knowledge of the Petitioner. The Division Bench while disposing of the LPA had granted liberty to the Petitioner to seek modification and variation of the order dated 12.3.2018 if she was dissatisfied by the reasons as submitted by the Union of India. The present application that was heard today arises out of the said liberty granted to her,” added Mukherji.

The matter is now listed for May 22 when the Centre has been asked to produce the criteria and list of activities that are allowed to be carried out by a person holding a business visa, and to show how if at all, the Petitioner is violating that criteria.

Kasha’s counsel have prayed that “if there is no such ground made out for the impulsive deportation, the Petitioner must be allowed to return immediately and carry forward the good work she has done for the goodwill, tourism and economy of Puducherry”.