HC sets aside ‘leave India’ notice to 69 China techies
On Friday, the Bombay High Court quashed and set aside 69 ‘leave India’ notices. These notices were issued to Chinese mobile technology experts. They were visiting manufacturing plants of a Mumbai-headquartered cellphone company in Daman and Silvassa. The high court directed that a showcause notice be issued first before the foreigner regional registration office (FRRO) takes any decision in the case. It was the FRRO which had issued the leave India notices. These notices were issued to the Chinese nationals on December 15. It was issued for alleged violation of their business visa conditions.
The court said that a showcause notice must be issued to the company, Pacific Cyber Technology, as well as the Chinese nationals followed an enquiry in two weeks. The bench of Justices B P Dharmadhikari and Sarang Kotwal passed the order. They disposed of a petition filed the company after a brief hearing. Prasad Dhakephalkar, the company’s counsel, also questioned the validity of the notices at a time when it was committed to implementing the Make in India initiative.
FRRO counsel Shrishailya Deshmukh said that notices were issued to 69 Chinese nationals, “including about 8 on tourist visa,” after they were found working on machines at the plants. Almost 10 of them have already left India. That is because the notices had sought their exit from the country immediately.
The court asked Deshmukh if any showcause notice had been issued. He replied that it had not been issued. He said that during an inquiry at the plant on December 4, FRRO inspectors found the Chinese nationals working on machines and only one of them could speak English. He further said that the plant manager’s statement had been recorded. He too said that they worked on the machines.
The High Court has set aside these leave India notices. Was this the correct decision? What do you think?
