Today, the Delhi High Court sets aside the order of the Central government revoking the OCI card of academic and writer Ashok Swain.

However, the court has allowed the central government to issue a fresh show-cause notice to Swain if deemed necessary.

Justice Sachin Datta delivered the verdict after reserving the order in January.

The plea argued that Swain should not be targeted for his views on the current government or its policies. The challenged order was issued on July 30, 2023, following a coordinate bench's decision on July 10, 2023, which had set aside a similar order canceling Swain's OCI card.  

In doing so, the court had directed the Central Government to issue a detailed order specifying the reasons for invoking its powers under Section 7D(e) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

In his subsequent petition, Swain contended that despite the court's “specific and unequivocal directions” to issue a detailed order, the Embassy of India to Sweden & Latvia passed the fresh order in a “callous manner,” merely paraphrasing the provisions of law.

“The Petitioner has an ailing mother aged about 78 years who is suffering from various medical ailments including Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and other age-related ailments. The Petitioner is the only son, and has not been to India in the past 3 years. Thus, there is an extreme urgency for him to visit India and attend to his ailing mother,” the plea filed by advocate Aadil Singh Boparai said.

Swain also stated that he is a well-known academic and researcher, and as an academician, he analyzes and critiques certain policies of the present government.

“He cannot be made to suffer for his views on the policies of the government. As a scholar it his role in the society to discuss and critique the policies of Government through his work. The Petitioner cannot be witch-hunted for his views on the political dispensation of the current government or their policies. Criticism of certain policies of the government would not amount to being an inflammatory speech or an Anti-India activity,” the plea added.

Last year, in Feb the Embassy of India to Sweden and Latvia canceled Swain's OCI card under Section 7D(e) of the Citizenship Act.