India Court Turns Away It’s Own Citizen Because He’s on the U.S. Registry

The Delhi High Court has ruled that India may refuse entry to a person because he is on a U.S. sex offender registry.

The case, Charnjit Singh Bains v. Union of India, involves a man of Indian origin who travels on a foreign passport and holds an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card. That card is normally given to people of Indian heritage so they can visit their ancestral homeland freely. When he landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, officials handed him an order refusing him entry. They told him to leave on the first available flight.

He challenged the order in the Delhi High Court. The government said it had blacklisted him because he is a registered child sex offender in the United States.

Justice Amit Mahajan ruled for the government. He called refusing entry “a sovereign function of the State.” He also said that once authorities learn a person was involved in such a crime abroad, “they are well within their rights to prevent such a person from setting foot on Indian soil.”

The decision doesn’t say how Indian officials learned about his U.S. registration. But under International Megan’s Law, the U.S. Angel Watch Center routinely notifies other countries when registrants plan to travel there. Many registrants know what comes next: they’re turned away at the airport with no way to challenge it.

This case shows how far the U.S. registry now reaches beyond our borders. The man held an OCI card, which India gives to people of Indian heritage. Even so, his U.S. registration was enough to keep him out of the country. For many registrants with family abroad, that can mean missing weddings, funerals, or the chance to care for aging parents.

SOURCE