HC: Consider visa for Lankan Tamil on humanitarian grounds

Chennai: Madras HC has directed the Union home ministry to consider granting an emergency visa to a Sri Lankan national to enter India to take care of his 72-year-old mother, a Sri Lankan Tamil residing in India for several decades as an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI).Justice M Dhandapani issued the interim directions, on a plea moved by Agambal Meiyappan seeking to consider and remove the name of her son, Niraikumar Meiyappan, from the blacklist of the Indian immigration bureau and consequently grant him an emergency visa.According to the petitioner, she is a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee residing in Tamil Nadu for several decades. The petitioner and her late husband were recognised as persons of Indian origin and were granted Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status. The petitioner's son, Niraikumar Meiyappan, though a Sri Lankan national by birth, resided in India in 1987.When his son was a minor, his father obtained an Indian passport for him without his knowledge. However, in 2018, he voluntarily surrendered the passport with the regional passport office, Trichy. He was penalised for overstaying in India and 1.34 lakh was imposed as a penalty. After the payment of the penalty, he was permitted to exit India through Trichy airport on April 27, 2018.However, he was placed under blacklist categories, resulting in denial of further entry into India. Now, since the petitioner is presently bedridden and is in a critical condition, he wanted to visit India to see his mother.Disposing of the plea, the court said, "...it is crystal clear that there is no material placed before this court to show that any criminal proceedings have been initiated against the petitioner's son or that there exists any adverse report from the law enforcing agencies warranting permanent denial of entry."The court then directed Niraikumar Meiyappan to submit an application for grant of an emergency visa and the authorities to consider the same on humanitarian grounds in two weeks.