Delhi HC sets aside government order cancelling academic Ashok Swain’s OCI card

This is the second time that the high court is setting aside an order of cancellation of OCI for Swain.

The Delhi High Court has overturned the Centre's decision to revoke the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card of academician and writer Ashok Swain.

This is the second time that the high court is setting aside an order of cancellation of OCI for Swain.

Pronouncing the verdict and reading the operative part in open court, Justice Sachin Datta ruled that the order of July 30, 2023 is set aside, adding, “The authorities are at liberty to issue a fresh show-cause notice,” Bar and Bench reported.

The said order revoking OCI card was passed on July 30, 2023, after a coordinate bench on July 10, 2023, quashed an earlier similar order cancelling Swain's OCI card.

The Centre had first issued a show-cause notice to Swain in November 2020, seeking his explanation as to why his OCI registration should not be cancelled.

Academician Swain in his plea filed in 2023 had argued that his mother who lived in India was unwell and he was the only son and hadn’t been able to visit India in the past three years. He challenged the revocation, saying it was done in a callous manner.

Swain's plea contended that he cannot be witch-hunted for his views on the current government or its policies.

He also said that he is a well-known academic and researcher and that being an academician, he analyses and criticizes certain policies of the current government, according to a Times of India report.

The Embassy of India to Sweden and Latvia had cancelled Swain's OCI card under Section 7D(e) of the Citizenship Act.