Imagine if Indian protested in US: HC raps actor Imran Khan over leave-India notice

The Bombay High Court on Monday came down heavily on actor Imran Khan over his participation in a protest against the Election Commission, reminding him that he was an American citizen holding an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card and could not behave like an Indian citizen. Drawing a comparison with how the United States would deal with an Indian national participating in a protest there, the court questioned Khan's right to take part in the demonstrations."You are an OCI card holder. You can't behave like an Indian citizen. You have nothing to say about SIR. You had no right to participate. You have to give a categorical undertaking to the court," the bench told Khan.When senior advocate Venkatesh Dhond, appearing for Khan, pointed out that the 42-year-old actor had spent his entire life in India and had become a US citizen only by virtue of his birth there, the court stressed that he was nevertheless not an Indian citizen."Obviously because you aren't an Indian citizen... Imagine if an Indian citizen does such protests in any other country, take, for example, your country - the US. That Indian citizen would have been sent back to the country on the next immediate flight," the court observed. The bench also questioned why Khan, who had spent most of his life in India and established himself as a Bollywood actor, had not opted for Indian citizenship."Since your childhood you have been here. Why don't you accept Indian citizenship? You have become a Bollywood star here," the court remarked. At another point, the court observed that Khan had lived in India for so long that he appeared to have forgotten his status as an OCI cardholder."You probably lived too long here... over 40 years to remember that you are an OCI card holder," the High Court remarked.The observations came during the hearing of Khan's petition challenging a Leave India Notice (LIN) issued by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), directing him to leave the country. The notice was kept in abeyance by a bench of Chief Justice MC Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna last week.- Ends