The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed that the “Leave India Notice” issued to Bollywood actor Imran Khan by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO), Mumbai, be kept in abeyance until November 2. A division bench adjourned the hearing after the Additional Solicitor General of India sought deferment and recorded that the notice dated October 14, 2026, requiring Khan to leave India by October 28, would not be acted upon in the interim. The matter is titled Imran Khan Pal v. Union of India & Ors., Writ Petition (L) No. 36271 of 2026.
Khan, a United States citizen and an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder, filed the petition on October 17, seeking to quash the October 14 directive and an interim stay on its operation. The impugned notice was issued under Section 7(2)(c) read with Section 29 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. Khan’s case is that he received it solely for attempting to attend a protest, that no prior hearing was given, and that the notice is non-speaking and generic in failing to disclose what conduct on his part contravened the Act.
Section 7(2)(c) permits an order that a foreigner “shall not remain in India or in any specified area therein,” and Section 29 empowers the Central Government to direct removal for contravention of the Act or on an adverse security report. Neither provision prescribes a hearing, and the Act provides no statutory appeal against a removal direction.
OCI status is governed separately. Section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 provides for registration, Section 7B for rights conferred, and Section 7D for cancellation on grounds including disaffection towards the Constitution and the interests of sovereignty, security or the general public. The proviso to Section 7D, inserted by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, bars any cancellation order without a reasonable opportunity of being heard. The petition’s central contention is that this safeguard cannot be displaced by routing the same outcome through the 2025 Act. The matter has now been listed for November 2.
The notice arises from the protests due to the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a door-to-door re-verification exercise under which voters were required to produce documentary proof of eligibility. The opposition and civil society groups allege removal of some 130 million names disproportionately affecting the poor, migrants and those without stable documentation, from the electoral rolls.
Protesters allege the deletions were engineered in collusion with Commission appointees to favour the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation amidst concerns of internal rifts in the Commission and a halt to further deletions pending an independent inquiry. The underlying challenge remains before the Supreme Court of India. On Tuesday, the Court granted petitioners ten days to reply to the Commission’s affidavit defending the SIR, in which the Commission maintained that the exercise was authorised by law including the unanimous approval of the authorities.
