Madhya Pradesh HC Grants Two-Month Stay On Deportation Of Zambian National Amid Her Child’s Pending Passport Application

This decision came after she filed a plea seeking protection from deportation while her marriage registration to Indian citizen and the application for a passport for their one-year-old son are pending.

A Bench of Justice Milind Ramesh Phadke said, “After hearing the rival contentions and perusing the record, this Court prima facie finds that the order of deportation to the petitioner No.2 was a natural corollary of the expiry of the viza granted in favour of petitioner No.2 on 14.09.2024 and, therefore, it cannot be said that the issuance of such an order is bad in law but the fact remains that the application for registration of marriage of petitioner No.2 and the petitioner in writ petition No.27462/2024 is allegedly pending before the Registrar of Marriage, Gwalior, though the date herein is disputed by the either side, which would be the bare minimum requirement for applying for the OCI Card by petitioner No.2 to be further eligible for staying in India.”

The Court acknowledged that while deportation may seem a natural consequence of the visa's expiry, the pending registration of the couple's marriage in Gwalior is a crucial step for Loveness to apply for an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, which would allow her to remain in India.

Advocate Ankur Mody appeared for the petitioner and Deputy Solicitor General Praveen Niwaskar appeared for the Respondents.

The Court noted that the child’s passport application is also pending, and if she were deported, the one-year-old—an Indian citizen by birth—would be unable to accompany her, which would create a significant hardship for the child. The court observed that there is no indication of any criminal background for her or any reasons related to her nationality that would jeopardize her stay in India.

Given these circumstances, the court granted a temporary stay on the deportation order and instructed the relevant authorities, including the Union of India, not to proceed with the deportation for the next two months. The court also requested that the respondents file their responses to the petition, scheduling a hearing for November 4.

Cause Title: Master X S/O Loveness Chinyama W/O Rahul Raj Pippal v. Union Of India & Ors.

Appearance:

Respondents: Advocates Praveen Niwaskar, Jitesh Sharma