Imran Khan moves HC on leave notice

Update, 17 October 2026. Actor Imran Khan has moved the Bombay High Court against the leave-India notice. This update was re-read at 6:52 pm IST and posted at 7:45 pm IST. He is a US national and an OCI cardholder. The paragraphs after this update are the 16 October note, kept as posted. On that morning the filing was still described as developing. The reports below, from 17 October, say the writ was filed that day.

The petition is Imran Khan Pal v. Union of India. It was filed on Saturday 17 October. It asks the court to quash, and to stay, the notice FRRO Mumbai served on 14 October. Bar & Bench, timed 12:55 pm IST, The Indian Express, updated at 6:49 pm IST, India Today at 6:48 pm IST, and News18 Hindi at 6:25 pm IST all report that filing. The notice, as those reports describe it, is under section 7(2)(c) read with section 29 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. It tells him to leave by 28 October and warns of prosecution. India Today says an urgent stay is sought.

The same day, 17 October, the FRRO issued a show-cause notice under section 7D of the Citizenship Act, asking why his OCI registration should not be cancelled. Bar & Bench and News18 Hindi report that show-cause. A reply has been sought. It is a show-cause only. The OCI registration is not cancelled.

The plea's own claims, which this note does not adopt, are these. No prior hearing was given. Safeguards under section 7D were bypassed. The notice does not say which provision was breached. The notice is, in the plea's words, "wholly disproportionate." Those are the petitioner's claims. The FRRO's reply in court is still awaited.

The background the new reports use is the 10 October protest near August Kranti Maidan against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, a brief detention, and a complaint by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. The 16 October note below has the longer account of that path, including Gamdevi police forwarding the complaint. The caption says he was detained, not arrested.

What happens next is not an order. The plea may be mentioned on Monday 19 October before Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna. Bar & Bench says a mention is likely. The Indian Express and India Today say a mention on Monday before the Chief Justice's bench. As of the 6:52 pm IST re-read, and as of the 7:45 pm IST post, there is no court order and no stay.

The photograph with this update is a file picture of Imran Khan in Mumbai on 9 December 2013, by TeachAIDS, Wikimedia Commons, licence CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped around the subject and labelled FILE, 2013. Slides 2 to 5 of the new carousel are graphics made by Neutral Politics. The credit for those is "NP graphic". The hero image of this article is unchanged.

The note below is the 16 October account.

This note is NP NOW. The leave-India notice is verified. The police position that foreigners cannot protest is marked as a claim. The Bombay High Court challenge is developing. The note was rechecked at 7:47 am IST on 16 October 2026, and the post went up at 7:56 am IST.

The Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Mumbai has served actor Imran Khan a notice to leave India. He is to depart on or before 28 October 2026. The Hindu, The Indian Express and Mint report the notice and that date. He is a US citizen and an OCI cardholder. Reports also give his name as Imran Khan Pal.

An OCI card is an Overseas Citizen of India card. It is not Indian citizenship. A person who holds one remains a foreign national. A leave-India notice and the cancellation of an OCI card are different processes. Cancellation of an OCI card sits under Section 7D of the Citizenship Act. This note is about the leave-India notice.

The notice follows a protest on 10 October 2026 at August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai. The protest was against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Imran Khan joined it. Police briefly detained him there. The reports describe that brief detention. They do not describe an arrest.

The path to the notice, as The Indian Express reports it, starts with a complaint by former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya. Gamdevi police forwarded that complaint to the FRRO. The FRRO in Mumbai then served the notice.

The law cited on the notice is the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. The sections cited are Section 7 and Section 29. The Indian Express, Mint, and Hindustan Times, reporting the notice text, carry those citations. This note does not paraphrase the sections beyond what those reports use them for: they are the provisions the notice relies on.

The police position is that foreigners cannot take part in a protest. That position is contested, and this note marks it as a claim. The Indian Express and Mint report that the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, does not expressly list protest. The Act, on those reports, does not itself name protest as a barred act. The police reading and the text those outlets describe are not the same thing. This note does not adopt the police position as a finding.

What happens in court is a separate question, and it is open. Lawyers are moving to challenge the notice in the Bombay High Court. The Indian Express, in a report timestamped 2:53 am IST on 16 October, describes a process of filing. Hindustan Times reports that the move is to be made on 16 October. The Hindu likewise reports that he is to move the High Court against the notice. The New Indian Express is the only outlet that wrote that he has moved or approached the court. Because that firmer line is in one report, this note keeps the softer wording used on the post: he is moving to challenge the notice. The filing is developing. No outcome is known. A later report that the petition has been registered, or a court order, would be the next verified step. Until then, the challenge stays developing.

The cover is a graphic made by Neutral Politics. The credit is "NP graphic".

What is verified is the notice, the departure date of 28 October 2026, who served it, the 10 October protest and the brief detention, the complaint and the forwarding by Gamdevi police, and the Act and sections cited. What is a claim is the police position that foreigners cannot protest. What is developing is the High Court challenge, and whether a petition is on the court's file.