New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday set aside the Centre’s decision to reject the plea of Siddharth Varadarajan, founder editor of The Wire, seeking to convert his status as a person of Indian origin to an overseas citizen of India, and said the rejection was without reason.
Justice Puruchindra Kumar Kaurav reinstated the American journalist’s application and asked the authorities to take a fresh decision on him in accordance with the law and issue a reasoned order.
“After perusing the matter, the court finds that the petitioner’s application for conversion of PIO to OCI has been rejected. There are no reasons specified in the communication as to why the application cannot be decided favorably,” Justice Kaurav said.
“Unless the respondent gives reasons, the Court of Appeal may not be able to appreciate. The reasons, substance and spirit of the order… the impugned communication is set aside. The petitioner’s application is restored. The court is ordered to examine the matter in accordance with law and issue an appropriate order.”
The central government’s lawyer urged the court to give it sufficient time to receive the instructions, but the court stressed that the refusal could not stand.
The court commented orally, saying: “You will have to reconsider this order. This order cannot be maintained. Pass a reasoned order.”
She explained that the petitioner could resort to appropriate legal remedy in the event of any subsequent complaint.
On Wednesday, the court planned to hear Varadarajan’s plea to allow him to travel and asked the central government’s counsel to take instructions in this aspect.
The journalist’s senior lawyer stated that he was a PIO card holder and had roots in India. Although all these cards were automatically considered OCI cards after 2015, his PIO card was no longer readable and he had to apply for conversion, the lawyer said.
The Center rejected the request to transfer Varadarajan’s PIO card to OCI and sent the impugned communication to him on April 2, it said.
“He was born to Indian parents. His wife is Indian. He has been in and out of the country since 1995. The PIO card is valid until 2032 but is not machine readable,” the lawyer said.
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