JUDGMENT :

PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J. 

1. The instant petition is filed for following reliefs:

“a) Issue a Writ in the nature of Mandamus, or any other appropriate writ, order, or direction, commanding the Respondents to forthwith quash and/or withdraw the Look-Out Circular/Immigration Alert issued against the Petitioner, Mr. Utkarsh Jain, holder of Indian Passport No. V 6112659;

b) Issue a further writ, order, or direction commanding the Respondents to permit the Petitioner to travel abroad freely and without any obstruction, restraint, or adverse immigration action, in view of the confirmed validity of his passport and absence of any lawful impediment;

c) Pass any other and further order which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances mentioned above, be passed in favour of the parties in the interest of justice.”

2. The petitioner, an Indian citizen by birth and a cricketer by profession, was stopped and offloaded at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi ('IGI Airport'), on 29.10.2025, while travelling abroad, on the ground that he holds dual nationality.

3. The Petitioner was alleged to have conscious possession of passports issued by two different sovereign states. One being the Cambodian Passport (N1929299), and the other being an Indian Passport (V6112659).

4. In or around early 2023, the Cricket Federation of Cambodia (“Federation”) invited the Petitioner, along with other Indian cricketers, to travel to Cambodia for cricket training in preparation for the Southeast Asian Games 2023 (“SEA Games”), scheduled to take place in Cambodia between 05.05.2023 to 17.05.2023.

5. Letter dated 08.03.2023 was issued by the Federation under the signature of Mr. Manish Sharma, CEO, Federation, certifying that the Petitioner will be travelling to Cambodia on Indian passport No. V6112659 for SEA Games.

6. It is an uncontroverted stand of the Petitioner that all logistical, visa, and administrative formalities during his stay in Cambodia, including the processing of any documentation required for such purposes, were handled entirely and solely by the Federation and relevant sports management working under the Federation’s aegis on behalf of all the visiting players.

7. The Petitioner has, at all material times, consistently, categorically and on affidavit maintained that he never applied for, sought to, or participated in any process for the acquisition of Cambodian citizenship, a Cambodian passport, or any other travel document of the Kingdom of Cambodia in his individual capacity.

8. It is his stand that he subscribed to no oath of allegiance to Cambodia, underwent no process of naturalisation, or registration, steps outlined by the Law on Nationality, 1996, [1996 Law on Nationality, Cambodia (NS/RKM/0896/02)]., and at no instance formed any intention of acquiring the citizenship of any foreign state.

9. Upon conclusion of the SEA Games, a letter by the Secretary General, National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (“NOCC”), dated 11.07.2025, was issued in collaboration with the General Department of Identification of the Kingdom of Cambodia (“NOCC Cancellation Certificate”), hereinafter read as:-

Subject: Confirmation of Confiscation and Cancellation of Passport

This is to certify that the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC), in official collaboration with the General Department of Identification of the Kingdom of Cambodia, confirms that the following individuals listed below have surrendered their Cambodian passport and their passport have been cancelled respectively. This action was conducted under administrative procedures in accordance with Cambodian law and regulations.

The following individuals are no longer in possession of their Cambodian passports, which have been officially surrendered to the Cambodian authorities: