Actor Imran Khan on Monday tendered an unconditional apology before the Bombay High Court for taking part in a Mumbai protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The apology followed a sharp exchange in court. A bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna said Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holders have no right to protest, and asked Khan to state clearly whether he attended the protest or had any association with it.
“Go to USA and participate in protests there and you can even go and cast your vote but you protesting anything here won’t be tolerated,” the court slammed at the actor.
The case began after the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) acted against him. Khan moved the High Court on 17 October to quash the “Leave India” notice the FRRO issued on 14 October. The notice asked him to leave the country by 28 October.
His counsel Zulfiqar Memon argued that Khan has lived in India for 42 years, studied here and owns a house in the country. He clarofoed that the actor had no intentiont of taking part in the protests.
“We also maintain that he has never been affiliated or associated with any party or agency or groups conducting these protests,” he said.
The court took the apology on record and It extended its stay on earlier order keeping the FRRO notice in abeyance. The matter will be heard next on 7 December.
The notice remains on hold until the next hearing, so there is no final ruling on its validity yet.
Imran Khan was detained on October 10th following his presence at August Kranti Maidan where protests were held in solidarity with Delhi agitation against CEC.
A complaint was lodged by thr Mumbai police following his arrest. Kn the complaint they claimed Khan violated Foreigners Act by participating in political events despite being a US citizen.
The police subsequently forwarded the complaint to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), which issued the notice directing him to leave India.