The Delhi High Court on Monday (July 10) set aside an order of the Central government cancelling the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card of controversial professor and academic Ashok Swain. The HC said that the government's order does does not give any reasons for cancelling Swain's OCI card. The Court directed the Central government to pass a fresh order in three weeks, reported Bar and Bench.
The professor, after the Delhi HC's observations, took to Twitter to share reports of the news and even thanked those supporting him on the micro-blogging site.
The Central government told the Court that it cancelled Professor Swain's OCI card because he was involved in activities "prejudicial to security and stability of India", its "sovereignty and integrity" and "friendly relations with other countries", reported Bar and Bench.
However, J Subramoniutm Prasad observed that the government's order is bereft of any reason other than repeating Section 7D(e) of the Citizenship Act as mantra. “The respondents are directed to pass a detailed order giving reasons for the cancellation of petitioner’s OCI card. The impugned order is set aside the respondents are directed to complete the exercise in three weeks. It is made clear that we have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case,” the Court said, according to Bar and Bench.
Who is Ashok Swain?
Dr. Ashok Swain is an academic, working as a professor of peace and conflict research at the Uppsala University in Sweden. He has been extremely critical of Modi government's policies and often tweets on issues concerning India.
Swain had also tweeted on Macron inviting Modi to be the chief guest of Farnce's national day celebration on 14 July.
"Ashok Swain is a Professor and Head of Department of the Department of Peace and Conflict Research. He is the UNESCO Chair on International Water Cooperation, and the Director of Research School of International Water Cooperation at Uppsala University. He is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of 'Environment and Security' journal, jointly published by Sage Publishing and Environmental Peacebuilding Association," reads the professor's introduction on Uppsala university page.
