Canceling OCI recognition of Kannada actor Chetan Kumar: Karnataka HC grants conditional interim stay to central govt order

The court however barred Chetan from tweeting anything about the judiciary and he cannot tweet or make statements about pending cases on him.

Bengaluru: In a relief to Kannada actor and social activist Chetan Kumar, the Karnataka High Court on Monday put a conditional interim stay to the central government's order canceling the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) status granted to Kumar. The order came after Kumar filed an application in the High Court challenging the cancellation of OCI recognition on the allegation that Chetan was involved in “anti-national activities”.

The bench headed by Justice M Nagaprasanna, which heard the petition, after reviewing the facts of the case, directed the central and state governments not to take any action in this regard till June 2, 2023 and adjourned the hearing in the case. Besides, the court has imposed a condition on Chetan that he cannot tweet anything about the judiciary and cannot tweet or make statements about pending cases on him.

Besides barring him from tweeting about cases against the judiciary and pending trial, the court also directed Kumar to remove current tweets on the topic. The court has instructed that an affidavit should be submitted in this regard within the next four days. This order will be subject to the final judgment of the case.

In addition, if the conditions are violated, the interim stay will be cancelled, the court said. The OCI status was granted by the central government in favour of Kumar back in 2018.A row erupted after the Centre revoked Kumar's Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) status over his alleged involvement in anti-national activities.

Earlier, the actor was arrested on Mar. 21 by the Bengaluru police for a tweet in which he said that “Hindutva is built on lies”. Following the move by the government, the actor sought a stay from the court for 15 days.