HC seeks Centre's stand on plea by American journalist against blacklisting

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the Centres stand on the alleged blacklisting of an American journalist who was earlier denied entry into the country in spite of being an OCI card holderCounsel for journalist Angad Singh told the court that they got to know about the blacklisting only after the Centre filed its response to his plea challenging the entry refusalWithout going into the merits Justice Prathiba M Singh allowed the petitioner who produces documentaries for Vice News with a focus on Asia to also assail his blacklisting in the ongoing proceedings and ordered Let counter affidavit to amended petition be filed in four weeksThe Centre had earlier told the court that the petitioner had been blacklisted despite being an OCI card holder for misrepresenting facts in the visa application for obtaining a journalistic visa and violating certain normsAlso readTwo militants army man killed in gunfight in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama districtCentral government counsel Anurag Ahluwalia on Tuesday said that a journalist visa is required for carrying out journalistic activity and any video prepared by such a person has to be first approved by the consulate before its publicationThe lawyer said the authorities have not initiated any proceeding against the petitioner as of now and urged the court to permit him to state the Centres stand in the responseLast month the Centre had submitted that the petitioner who was deported from Delhi to New York in August last year had depicted India in a negative manner in the India Burning documentaryIn the petitioner Singh challenged the action of refusing him entry in India as illegal and violative of Articles 14 21 and 25 of the ConstitutionHe also challenged the refusal to grant him a special permit further to his application made on September 22 2021He submitted that he is an OCI card holder which was issued to him initially in March 2007 and was renewed later in August 2018Singh said he had applied for permission to shoot a documentary in India in January 2020 for Republic Day celebration and other events and was issued a permit However since he could not visit immediately he again applied for second permission which was granted to him on January 30 2021In 2021 he again applied for a special permit to cover some event and interviews which was rejectedIn respect of his application regarding the rejection no response was received by Singh Thereafter he applied for shooting a food show in September 2021 and was rejected permit for itThe plea said that in August last year the petitioner wanted to travel to India on a personal visit as he has roots in the country and also has relatives here However he was not permitted to enter India on arrival and was deported backThe Centre in an affidavit filed by the FRRO has stated that the petitioner is a blacklist subject and was blacklisted at the instance of Consulate General of India in New YorkThe affidavit claimed that the petitioner had misrepresented facts in the visa application for obtaining a journalistic visa in 2020 and had published a documentary titled India Burning which depicted India in a very negative mannerThe matter would be heard next on May 17This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever