New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has dismissed the plea of a British man seeking reconsideration of his visa application, which had already been denied twice without giving any reasons.
Issuance of a visa is a “sovereign function” that is subject to national security and administrative discretion, the Court held while dismissing the plea.
Justice Amit Mahajan was hearing a plea of the man who was now apprehensive that he might have been placed on a blacklist or an entry restriction by the Indian authorities, as reported by The Indian Express.
“The issuance of a visa/ refusal of entry/ granting clearance of immigration is a sovereign function of the State that is embedded in considerations of national security, foreign policy and administrative discretion. The petitioner (the man), being a foreign national, cannot claim any right to issuance of a visa or entry into this country,” the Court observed.
The authorities rejected his e-business visa application on September 7 and gave him no reason for the denial, the petitioner said. Subsequently, he applied for a regular one-year multiple-entry business visa before the High Commission of India, London on September 10. However, when he went to collect his passport after processing, neither had any visa been granted nor had any reason been communicated to him.
When he personally visited the Indian High Commission in London to enquire about the status of his application, he was orally asked not to return to India and was not provided any further information or clarification, the man contended.
He apprehends that he might have been placed on a blacklist or an entry restriction by the Indian authorities, although no such order or restriction had ever been communicated to him, the petitioner submitted.
Even though he had a valid five-year e-tourist visa, he was unable to travel to India because he was scared that he might not be allowed to enter the country, the man said.
He then approached the High Court, seeking directions to the authorities to inform him about his blacklist or entry-restriction status, if there were any, and to reconsider his business visa application.
The man had filed the plea merely because he was doubtful that he might have been blacklisted from entering into the country and would not be able to enter if he traveled using his e-tourist visa, the Court observed.
While noting that he was a “foreign national”, the high court said that the man’s fundamental rights were limited to Right to Life and Liberty only and did not include the right to reside and settle in the country.
There was “no inherent or legally enforceable right of a foreign national to seek entry into India” and that a plea could be filed before the court only when there was a violation of a right, Justice Mahajan observed while dismissing the plea.