New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted the Center an additional two weeks to file its response to academic Ashok Swain’s petition challenging his alleged blacklisting order, which bars him from entering India.
An application seeking additional time was filed by the central government counsel before Justice Puruchindra Kumar Kaurav.
The court said: “At the request of the defendant’s lawyer, an additional two-week period is granted to submit a response,” and referred the matter to the next hearing on July 23.
The court issued notice on Swain’s plea in November 2025 and asked the Union ministries of home and external affairs, the Indian embassies in Sweden and Latvia and the Immigration Bureau to submit their responses within three weeks.
The Embassy of India in Sweden and Latvia canceled Swain’s OCI card under the Citizenship Act on February 8, 2024.
Swain, a professor and department head at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University in Sweden, had asserted in his petition that he was denied entry to India on the basis of an alleged blacklisting order under the Foreigners Act, which was revealed in a counter-affidavit filed by the Center in its earlier petition on the issue.
He mentioned that his elderly mother, who lives in India, was sick, but he had not been able to visit her for the past few years.
He alleged that the action taken by the authorities was in accordance with an undisclosed order on the blacklist, was not informed of its content and legal basis and was not tested on the test of procedural safeguards provided under the Citizenship Act, principles of natural justice and constitutional protection under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
Swain has sought court directions to the authorities to allow him entry into India using his OCI card, request records relating to the alleged blacklist order and quash the blacklist order or any other order restricting his entry here.
“Despite two rounds of judicial review, Defendants insisted on issuing orders and imposing the blacklist based on comprehensive and clear allegations, the contents of which were never disclosed even to this court,” the petition reads.
“Such obfuscation by the defendants exemplifies arbitrariness, denial of the details of the case and refusal to provide evidence invalidates all administrative proceedings under Article 14,” the petition filed.
The petition also cited the Centre’s affidavit which states, “The petitioner, Mr. Ashok Swain, a Swedish citizen, an OCI card holder, a professor at Uppsala University, has been blacklisted and banned from entering the territory of India in view of his anti-India writings and inflammatory speeches which have reflected negatively on India and tarnished the country’s image in international forums.”
The Supreme Court had earlier twice set aside the Centre’s order canceling Swain’s Indian Overseas Citizenship Card and given the authorities the freedom to issue him a fresh show-cause notice.
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