Kolkata, March 6 The Calcutta High Court has given an interim stay on the leave India notice served on a Polish student of the Jadavpur University (JU) by the Union Home Ministry for allegedly taking part in a rally against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
A single judge bench of the high court gave the relief to the Polish student Kamil Siedczynski - now in the final semester of his masters degree course in comparative literature - who had filed the petition against the notice handed to him by the Union Home Ministry and Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO).
Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya on Thursday restrained the government from enforcing the notice till March 18 when he will pass an order on the petition.
The notice dated February 14 and handed over to Kamil on February 24, ordered him to leave the country within 15 days of receiving it.
Kamil in his petition pleaded that the authorities be restrained from giving effect to the notice, which his counsel Jayanta Mitra dubbed arbitrary, not in tune with principles of natural justice and against the spirit of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian constitution.
Mitra argued that the Polish citizen had on December 19, 2019 merely accompanied some other JU students following their request to an event in central Kolkata's New Market area out of curiosity.
He went there unwittingly and only later found that it was a peaceful protest organised by people from various walks of life.
Mitra submitted that at the venue his photo was clicked and some questions asked by a person. Kamil only came to know later that the person concerned was a photojournalist of a Bengali daily which carried his photo but also wrongly attributed some quotes to him.
Opposing the petition, the Central government counsel Phiroze Edulji submitted before the court that being a foreigner, Kamil could not challenge Article 19 (freedom of speech) of the Constitution. Nor could he challenge a law passed by Parliament.
The FRRO notice had accused Kamil of being involved in "anti-government activities", saying it amounted to "visa violation".
The notice did not, however, give any details of the "anti-government activities" he has participated in, but warned that he would be prosecuted under the Foreigners Act, 1946, if the deadline was not adhered to.
Kamil earlier studied Bengali literature at Visva Bharati, a central university, and can write and speak in the language fluently.
He has also translated a Polish fairy tale into Bengali.
( With inputs from IANS )