Mumbai: Bombay High Court on Tuesday posted to Nov 2 the hearing on actor Imran Khan Pal’s challenge to a notice directing him to leave India and till then kept the notice in abeyance. The Oct 28 deadline under the Oct 14 notice issued by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, was extended till the next hearing after Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh appearing for the Centre sought a short adjournment.
However, ASG Anil Singh later sought an adjournment to enable the solicitor general to appear, following which the court posted the matter to Nov 2. The notice followed an FIR registered against him for allegedly participating in a protest in Mumbai on Oct 10 in support of the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi. Khan (around 44), also represented by lawyers Zulfiquar Memon, Parvez Memon and Kunal Vajani, contended that the notice was arbitrary, disproportionate and issued without hearing him, thus flouting his fundamental rights to equality and life under Articles 14 and 21, which apply to non-Indian citizens as well.
Khan’s plea said he was merely “curious” when he was passing by and saw the crowd and had left immediately when the police asked him to. The matter was kept back for Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to appear online for the FRRO, a central govt authority, from New Delhi.