The Delhi High Court has directed two Bangladeshi petitioners to approach the Central government with a representation relating to a plea seeking to remove the name and passport numbers from the blacklist.
Justice Rekha Palli disposed of the plea with direction to petitioners to approach the Central government with a representation. The Court directed the government to decide the representation within six weeks.
The Court was hearing the petitions filed by two citizens of Bangladesh, who has sought to place on record the blacklist circular. The petitioner has also sought direction from the respondent to remove the name and passport numbers from the blacklist Circular and Look Out Circular.
The petitioner has filed the petition through advocates Pankaj Mehta and R.K. Mehta.
The Petitioners -- Shirin Akter and Shohel Ahmed -- are citizens of Bangladesh, who were deported from India in May and September of 1999 respectively stating that their names and passport numbers formed part of the Blacklist Circular.
Appearing for Centre, its standing counsel and advocate Amit Mahajan, submitted that India is the only country in this world where foreigners can approach courts with their petitions challenging denial to their entry into the country.
The petitioner sought the intervention of the Court in the arbitrary, unreasonable and discriminatory action of the respondent Centre in blacklisting the petitioners and Blacklist Circular in blatant violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and in violation of the principles of natural justice and in violation of 'Audi alteram partem'.
The petitioner said that upon enquiry with the officers at the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office, Kolkata and the High Commission of India at Dhaka, Bangladesh, it was stated that no reason had been delineated in the circulars for the blacklisting of the Petitioners and that there is no procedure for challenging the same and the Petitioners will be barred entry into India for as long as the Blacklist Circular stand as the circulars did not provide a timeline or an end-date for the blacklisting.
That Petitioner Shohel Ahmed applied for Indian tourist visas on 13.09.2017, 27.02.2018 and 10.02.2019 to visit her daughter in Kolkata but the same got refused over and over again without citing any reason for such a refusal despite a period of over 20 years passing since the Petitioners were first deported from India in 1999 citing that their names and passport numbers formed part of Blacklist Circular.
"That the Petitioners were blacklisted without their knowledge and without affording them an opportunity to be heard in an arbitrary and unreasonable manner which is against the established principles of natural justice and in a blatant violation of the 'Doctrine of Reasonable Classification' and thereby is violative of Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India, " the petitioner said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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