Delhi HC refuses to expunge remarks about academic Ashok Swain’s ‘objectionable’ social media posts
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to expunge remarks by a single-judge bench about “objectionable” social media posts by Sweden-based professor of Indian origin Ashok Swain, reported Live Law.
On March 28, Justice Sachin Dutta set aside an order by the Union government cancelling the Overseas Citizen of India card of Swain.
The judge had stated that even though the professor’s posts “undermine the constitutional apparatus and legitimacy of the Indian state itself”, he should be granted an opportunity to submit an explanation or take remedial steps.
Overseas Citizenship of India is an immigration status that allows foreigners of Indian origin to live and work in India indefinitely.
Swain, who holds Swedish citizenship, is an academic and professor of peace and conflict research at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Sweden’s Uppsala University.
He moved the High Court on Wednesday seeking to expunge Dutta’s remarks.
A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela stated that in his order, Dutta had clarified that the remarks were not part of the findings of the case.
“They are only prima facie opinion,” said the bench. “It is not even an opinion. The exact word is that it ‘appears’. It is not even a tentative opinion.”
While setting aside a July 2023 order cancelling...
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