The Calcutta High Court has set aside the “Leave India” notice issued to a Polish student in Jadavpur University in Kolkata after he had participated in anti-CAA protests. Earlier on March 6, the court had stayed the order issued by the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office in Kolkata.
Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya of the Calcutta High Court ordered the union government not to implement the notice served to Kamil Siedczynski, the student from Poland who is enrolled into a Masters Degree at the Department of Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University.
The student was issued the Leave India notice by the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office in Kolkata after he was found to be participating in anti-CAA protests. The notice dated 14 had asked Kamil Siedczynski to leave India for alleged conduct deemed inappropriate for a foreign national staying in India on a student visa, within 14 days of receiving the notice. He had received the same on February 24th, hence he was to leave India by March 9th.
Kamil had requested the FRRO to reconsider its decision, and promised that he would not get involved in any such protests in future. He had said that he was not involved in politics in India, and he had joined the protests out of curiosity. But after his request was declined, the Polish student had approached the Calcutta High Court praying for a restraining order on the FRRO notice. Kamil Siedczynski’s lawyer Jayanta Mitra had told the court that on December 19, 2019, he was persuaded to accompany other students of the Jadavpur University to an event in the New Market area of Kolkata. Mitra claimed that Kamil attended the event unwittingly and out of curiosity, which turned out to be a protest against the CAA.
The centre had told the court that being a student visa holder, a foreigner cannot challenge a law passed by the Indian parliament. Central government lawyer Phiroze Edulji had said that a foreigner cannot challenge Article 19 of the Constitution, as it was not applicable to him. The court was also informed that the notice was issued after a field report.
While he was at the protest venue, a journalist from a Bengali daily had clicked his photographs and asked him a few questions, and his photo with some related news was subsequently published.
In his petition, Kamil Siedczynski had stated that he has requested for reconsideration of the notice since he has only four months left to complete his Master’s Degree and also, he “expressed remorse stating he had learnt a lot from his mistake and he undertook not to repeat the mistake”.
On March 5, the court had stayed the notice, asking the govt not to give it effect till March 18, when the court was scheduled to deliver its verdict. And accordingly, the court today revoked the order issued by the FRRO and said that the Polish student will stay in India.
