Calcutta HC stays Centre’s notice to Jadavpur University’s Polish student
The notice was served days after the student took part in a rally against the citizenship law in Kolkata on January 21
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday ordered a stay till March 18 on the Union home ministry's 'Leave India' notice served to Kamil Siedczynski, a Polish student from Jadavpur University (JU), reports Hindustan Times.
The notice does not mention any specific event. It says Siedczynski has been "found to have engaged in anti-government activities" and has thus "committed visa violation".
The notice was served days after the student took part in a rally against the citizenship law in Kolkata on January 21.
Siedczynski is pursuing a Masters degree in comparative literature at JU and his final semester is approaching.
He was supposed to leave on or before March 10 as the notice served to him on February 24 by the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office (FRRO), Kolkata gave him 15 days to leave India.
After hearing a petition on Thursday, Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya of the Calcutta high court reserved his order till March 18 and asked the government not to act on its notice till then.
The student told the court through his counsel that he only accompanied his friends from JU to a rally but never took part in any political activity or make any statement against any law.
Opposing Siedczynski's plea, counsel for the Centre told the court that a foreigner holding a student visa cannot challenge a law of the country.
The judge heard both sides and reserved his order.
