India News | Delhi HC Questions Siddharth Varadarajan over Non-disclosure of Allahabad HC Order, Recalls OCI Relief
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Calling the issue "very serious", Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said the matter could have serious consequences and asked Varadarajan to explain his conduct by filing an affidavit.
New Delhi [India], May 14 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday questioned journalist and The Wire founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan for not disclosing an Allahabad High Court order that required him to take permission before travelling abroad.
Calling the issue "very serious", Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said the matter could have serious consequences and asked Varadarajan to explain his conduct by filing an affidavit.
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The issue came up while the court was hearing Varadarajan's plea seeking permission to travel overseas.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma and advocate Ashish Dixit, appearing for the Central government, informed the court about a 2020 Allahabad High Court order directing Varadarajan not to leave the country without prior permission of the court.
After going through the order, the Delhi High Court noted that the direction had not been placed before it earlier.
Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Varadarajan, apologised before the court for not bringing the Allahabad High Court order on record.
However, Justice Kaurav said an oral apology could not be accepted in such a matter and issued notice to Varadarajan seeking a reply within seven days.
The High Court also recalled all its earlier orders passed in the case, including Tuesday's order by which it had set aside the Centre's decision refusing Varadarajan an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card.
On May 12, the court had quashed the government's April 2026 order rejecting Varadarajan's request for conversion of his Person of Indian Origin (PIO) status into OCI status.
At that time, the court had observed that the government had not given proper reasons for rejecting the application and directed the authorities to reconsider the matter and pass a fresh reasoned order.
Varadarajan had argued before the court that he was originally a PIO card holder and that after PIO cards were treated as OCI cards in 2015, his card became unreadable, forcing him to apply for conversion. (ANI)
(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)