The Delhi High Court sought the Centre’s response to a petition by India-born British academic Nitasha Kaul, who challenged the cancellation of her Overseas Citizenship of India card and her blacklisting from entering the country.

Justice Sachin Datta issued notice on her main petition and her interim plea for a stay on the March 6, 2025 order.

Kaul also sought three weeks’ entry to visit her aged and ailing mother.

Kaul said she is being prevented from meeting her 72-year-old ailing mother who resides in Delhi and has longstanding health issues.

The court set the next hearing for January.

Kaul, a professor of International Relations at the University of Westminster, said she has been targeted for her critical academic work without being given specific allegations.

"The impugned OCI cancellation order dated March 6, 2025 and the purported blacklisting order is in the teeth of the principles of natural justice, the petitioner's constitutional rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution and statutory rights conferred under Section 7 of the Citizenship Act as well as the Foreigners Act which encompasses within its ambit the rights to procedural fairness, transparency, and proportionality," Boparai, said.

According to news reports, in February 2024, Kaul was invited by the Karnataka government to attend a conference.

Despite holding a valid UK passport and an OCI card, she was denied entry at Bengaluru airport and deported after being held for about 24 hours in a cell.

In May this year, the central government revoked her OCI status. The cancellation letter accused her of "anti-India" activities, saying that her writings and speeches targeted India's sovereignty.