Court Halts Order Forcing Actor Imran Khan to Leave India

Mumbai (GNP): The Bombay High Court on Tuesday suspended until November 2 a notice directing US-born actor Imran Khan to leave India by October 28. The notice was issued after he took part in a protest against alleged electoral manipulation.

The court said the notice from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) will stay in abeyance until the next hearing. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh gave an oral assurance that no coercive action would be taken against Khan in the meantime.

The 43-year-old actor, nephew of Bollywood star Aamir Khan, was detained on October 10 during a demonstration at Mumbai’s August Kranti Maidan. The protest was held in solidarity with a wider agitation demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the revision of electoral rolls.

The FRRO notice warned that deportation proceedings could follow if Khan did not leave on time. He has also challenged a separate show-cause notice asking why his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status should not be revoked.

In his petition, Khan asked the court to quash the notice and restrain the authorities from taking coercive steps while the case is pending. The petition calls the notice illegal and arbitrary, and alleges that he was targeted because of his public profile.

His case comes amid wider protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of India’s electoral rolls. The Election Commission announced the exercise in 2025 ahead of state elections, and voters were required to prove their eligibility with documents from an approved list.

Opposition parties and student movements say the process has excluded millions of eligible voters. Critics question why already registered voters must prove eligibility again on such a scale, and they warn that the documentation rules could shut out people who lack official records or struggle with administrative procedures.

Opposition parties and civil society groups have raised concerns over the exclusion of 130 million voters. West Bengal has become a major focus, with around nine million people, about 12 per cent of its electorate, reportedly removed from the rolls. Critics say vulnerable communities and religious minorities, particularly Muslims, are affected most.

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The dispute has drawn together opposition politicians, lawyers, journalists and young people worried about unemployment and government accountability. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led group, has demanded Kumar’s resignation and a reversal of the revision. The movement took its name after an Indian judge referred to unemployed young people as “cockroaches”.

Its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, 31, says he has been arrested twice and remains under surveillance. He says two associates, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were jailed for a week.

Indian media reports say police beat protesters and arrested journalists during demonstrations in New Delhi. They also report that more than 20,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed on October 13 ahead of a planned rally at Jantar Mantar. The city centre was barricaded and internet access suspended, the reports add, and more than 7,000 people, including opposition leaders, lawyers and journalists, were detained by evening.

Dipke said the movement would keep challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government despite the crackdown. He said, “We are not afraid of questioning the government.”