Tablighis from foreign nations can’t ask to be deported as matter of right: Govt to SC

New Delhi: The government told the Supreme Court on Thursday that foreign members of the Tablighi Jamaat who had indulged in religious activities while in the country on tourist visas would face consequences for their actions and cannot seek to be deported as a matter of right. They will also be blacklisted to prevent re-entry in future, the government said.
Visas of 2,679 foreigners, including nine Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card holders, have been cancelled so far, it said. Only some members who were available on email have been told of the visa cancellation, while orders against the others would be executed at their port of exit, the government said.

Some 227 foreign nationals had left India before a lookout circular could be issued against them, the court was told. No foreign Tablighi Jamaat member had been deported so far, as criminal proceedings were ongoing against them under various provisions of the law. These include the Disaster Management Act, the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Foreigners’ Act. They cannot seek to be deported to the country of their origin as a matter of right and would be deported only after the legal processes are complete, the government said.

The right to grant, rescind or cancel visas, the government said, was a sovereign function of the executive and cannot be subjected to judicial scrutiny under the Right to Life and Liberty guaranteed to Indian citizens under the Constitution, the government said.