Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court overturned a deportation order against a Russian national for allegedly violating visa terms, noting that there was no threat to national security and that non-citizens are also protected under Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.
The case involved a 53-year-old Russian woman living in Goa who was given a work visa but was accused of breaking the terms of the e-visa. The court granted the Russian national’s writ petition to challenge the May 17, 2023 deportation order and the February 7, 2023 order that erased her visa renewal for foreigners’ services.
The court noted that the contested deportation order should not have been issued without at least minimal adherence to natural justice and fair play principles.
“Natural justice and fair play principles are a necessary corollary of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. Non-citizens are likewise protected by this article, in addition to citizens.This did not involve any threat to the nation’s internal security or similar issues. The unilateral complaint concerned a violation of a specific condition upon which the visa had been granted, the court said.
The petitioner’s attorney said there had been no breach because the petitioner had left her job to guarantee that the visa’s criteria and conditions were being followed. The petitioner sought for a dependent visa on February 7, 2023, after quitting her job, according to the petitioner’s attorney, who added that the application was turned down due to the deportation order.
The legal representative for the respondents, including the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) FRRO and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) Goa, claimed that the E-visa’s terms and conditions had been broken, necessitating the issuance of the deportation order. The attorney claimed that since a deportation order had been issued, it was impossible to evaluate any additional dependency visa applications.
