Karnataka High Court has granted interim protection from deportation to Kannada actor and activist Chetan Kumar “Ahimsa” after his Overseas Citizen of India card was revoked recently.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna on Friday ordered the authorities not to precipitate the matter until the next hearing on June 2 and directed Kumar, an American citizen who had challenged the revocation of his OCI card, to file an affidavit undertaking that he would refrain from tweeting on matters that are sub-judice and delete his tweets against the judiciary.
The actor had received a notice on April 14 from the ministry of home affairs informing him about the cancellation of his OCI card over some cases against him.
Among the cases cited in the notice were complaints for violation of Covid protocol, a tweet against a high court judge who heard the hijab case last year, and more recently a tweet in which he stated that “Hindutva is built on lies”.
Kumar had been arrested in the latter two cases and spent a few days in judicial custody before being granted bail.
A strident critic of the Hindutva ideology, Kumar has been championing the cause of Dalits and Adivasis by participating in their struggles for their rights, in the process ruffling feathers among the powers that be.
While he has been critical of the Congress and the Janata Dal Secular too, it is his comments on issues linked to the Sangh parivar that landed him in trouble.
The actor, who was represented by senior counsel Aditya Sondhi, had challenged the revocation of the OCI card and sought interim relief until the next hearing to preclude the possibility of being deported.
“Therefore, the aforesaid protection order, during the pendency of the petition, shall be on the condition that the petitioner files an affidavit of undertaking within the next 4 days, from the receipt of a certified copy of the order that he would encourage restraint on the tweets qua judiciary and matters that are sub-judice and further undertakes that he would delete the tweets that are against the judiciary and matters that are sub-judice,” the court stated in a written order.
Deputy solicitor-general of India Shanthi Bhushan, who appeared for the Foreigners Regional Registration Office and the Union of India, and additional advocate-general Aruna Shyam, who appeared for the state, had vehemently opposed any relief to Kumar. They had alleged that “thepetitioner is in the habit of tweeting about the judiciary and matters that are sub-judice”.
But the court found it appropriate to grant interim relief to Kumar. “Any violation of the undertaking by the petitioner would entail automatic vacation of the interim protection,” the court cautioned.
Born and raised in America, Kumar graduated from Yale before moving to his native Karnataka where he initially taught in a village school near Mysore apart from dabbling in theatre. He soon became a popular film actor, even as he continued social work and activism.
He is in the country on the OCI scheme that was introduced by amending the Citizenship Act, 1955, in August 2005. Since India does not allow dual citizenship, the OCI card functions as a lifelong visa and residence permit to stay and work in India. The only restrictions for OCI card-holders are voting in India and taking up government jobs.
