JUDGMENT :

Draft amendment is granted.

1. Rule returnable forthwith. Respective learned advocates waives service of notice of Rule for and on behalf of the respective respondents.

2. In this petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner, who is a USA citizen and a passport holder of that country, has sought a direction to quash and set aside the communication/notice dated 27.12.2022 by the Bureau of Immigration, India, under para 6 of the Foreign Order, 1948, by which, he has been refused entry into India.

3. The facts in brief are as under:

- It is the case of the petitioner that he is a citizen of the United States of America albeit having his roots in India. That he was born in Karamsad, Anand and after completing his schooling upto 7th standard from a school in Karamsad, he left for USA at the age of 17 and obtained a US citizenship. He is at present working there.

- In the year 2015, the petitioner was charged with sexual offence against a minor under Section 22 of the United State Codes 212b(c)(1). According to the petitioner, being unaware of the procedure of trial, he pleaded guilty. He was under probation and performed community service of 100 hours which he successfully completed on 14.01.2021. He was successfully discharged on 1.4.2021.

- On becoming a US citizen, the petitioner’s Indian Passport was revoked and the petitioner was issued a USA passport. On being covered as a sex offender the petitioner had to surrender his existing US passport and was issued a fresh US passport with the endorsement that he is convicted of a sex offence against a minor. This was done by the US State Department by a communication dated 23.05.2022.

- In March, 2022 i.e. on 01.03.2022, the petitioner entered India and entered into a marriage at Anand, which was performed in Arya Samaj. As the petitioner seeks to come to India for celebrating his marriage on 7.1.2023, the petitioner booked and boarded a flight on 25.12.2022 from New York to Dubai and from Dubai to Ahmedabad with a scheduled return ticket of 20.1.2023 from Ahmedabad. This was on the basis of the petitioner having been issued an Electronic Travel Authorization (E-Visa) on 7.12.2022 valid upto 6.1.2023.

- It is the case of the petitioner that by the impugned communication dated 27.12.2022, the petitioner was stopped at Ahmedabad Airport and was deported to Dubai and the E-Visa issued has been cancelled. Hence, the petition.

4. Mr. I.H. Syed, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Mr. Aftabhusen Ansari, learned advocate for the petitioner made the following submission:

a. The E-Visa that was issued to the petitioner on 7.12.2022 and was valid upto 6.1.2023 was cancelled without giving an opportunity of hearing the petitioner.

b. Inviting the Court’s attention to the communication dated 27.12.2022, Mr. Syed would submit that the same was issued under para 6 of the Foreigners Order, 1948. Reading para 6 of the Foreigners Order, 1948 together with para 3 of the order, he would submit that the power to refuse permission to enter India can be issued if, amongst other things, the Civil authority is satisfied that the foreigner has been sentenced in a foreign country for an extradition offence within the meaning of the Indian Extradition Act, 1903.

c. According to Mr. Syed, the Indian Extradition Act, 1903 has been revoked and the Indian Extradition Act of 1962 is in place. As per the Act of 1962, it is a law relating to the extradition of fugitive criminals. A “fugitive criminal” is defined to mean a person accused or convicted of an extradition offence. “Extradition Offence” is also defined to mean an offence provided for in the extradition treaty with the State. It also means when it is in relation to a State other than a treaty state the offence has to be one punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year under the laws of India. The petitioner though convicted of a sex offence has undergone only 100 hours of community service and