Bombay High Court to hear Imran Khan’s India-exit notice challenge on October 26

The Bombay High Court will hear on 26 October a petition filed by actor Imran Khan against a police notice directing him to leave India by 28 October.

The petition challenges notices issued by the Mumbai Police and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), which Imran’s lawyers have described as illegal and arbitrary.

The case follows Imran’s detention in connection with a protest in Mumbai over demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The legal dispute now involves both the order asking Imran to leave India and a separate notice asking why his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card should not be cancelled.

Court fixes hearing after Centre seeks time

The matter was placed before a bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna.

The Centre’s Solicitor General, Anil Singh, sought time to study the petition.

The court then fixed 26 October for the hearing.

Imran’s senior counsel, Venkatesh Dhond, had sought an early hearing because the police notice requires the actor to leave India by 28 October.

The petition contests the police and FRRO action and asks the court to set it aside.

During the hearing, Imran’s lawyers told the court that he has been living in India since he was two years old.

They also told the court that he has no criminal record and that no case is pending against him.

The lawyers further argued that Imran did not participate in the protest.

According to their account, he was passing through the area when he was detained and was later released.

The legal team has also sought CCTV footage from the police to establish whether Imran was present at the protest or had taken part in it.

What happened at August Kranti Maidan

Imran was detained after reaching Mumbai’s August Kranti Maidan on 10 October, where a demonstration was held demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The protest was organised by the CJP, according to the report on the case.

The BBC reported that Imran took part in the demonstration and was detained by the police.

The police said action was taken under the Immigration Act because Imran had participated in the protest despite not being an Indian citizen.

Imran’s lawyers have disputed that account.

They have said that he did not join the demonstration and was only passing through the area.

Another account presented in court said that Imran was travelling through Nana Chowk that day.

His lawyers said the route had been closed and that he made a statement after media personnel asked him questions.

Before he was detained, Imran said he had gone there as a city resident to see the restrictions in the area and people’s suppressed voices.

The report does not establish through the competing accounts whether Imran participated in the protest.

That question is central to the dispute because the legal action began after allegations that his presence amounted to participation in a political demonstration.

Imran later said that he learnt from the media that his name had been included in the FIR.

His legal team has asked the police for CCTV footage so that his movements and presence at the site can be examined.

Notice to leave India by 28 October

The first notice asked Imran to leave India before 28 October.

The police notice was issued after a complaint and subsequent demands for an inquiry into Imran’s participation in the protest.

The complaint was made by former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya.

Somaiya wrote to the Mumbai Police and the FRRO, alleging that Imran’s participation in a political protest violated OCI rules and visa conditions because he was an American citizen.

The report attributes this claim to Somaiya rather than presenting it as an established finding.

After the complaint, the Mumbai Police issued Imran the notice asking him to leave India by 28 October.

The matter then moved to the Bombay High Court, where Imran challenged the notice.

The petition says the action taken by the police and the FRRO is illegal and arbitrary.

The lawyers’ argument before the court also focuses on Imran’s long association with India.

They told the court that he had been living in India since the age of two.

The lawyers also relied on the absence of a criminal record or a pending case in seeking urgent consideration of the petition.

The court’s scheduled hearing will therefore consider the challenge before the 28 October deadline mentioned in the notice.

Separate FRRO notice on OCI status

The FRRO has sent Imran a second notice asking why his OCI card should not be cancelled.

The notice gives him 15 days to respond.

This is separate from the first notice, which asked him to leave India before 28 October.

The legal dispute consequently covers both his immediate status in India and the future of his OCI card.

The report says OCI cardholders are allowed to live in and travel to India under the citizenship framework.

It also says OCI cardholders do not have political rights in India or permission to participate in movements.

The report links the legal action to Imran’s alleged participation in the CJP demonstration against the Chief Election Commissioner.

The competing accounts about what Imran did at August Kranti Maidan therefore carry significance for the proceedings.

The police account says he participated in the demonstration.

His lawyers say he was only passing through the area.

The request for CCTV footage is intended to help clarify that dispute.

The court has not yet been reported as having reached a conclusion on whether Imran took part in the protest.

Kirit Somaiya’s complaint and the beginning of the dispute

The case began with a complaint by Kirit Somaiya, according to the report.

Somaiya wrote to the Mumbai Police and the FRRO.

He alleged that Imran, as an American citizen, had violated OCI rules and visa conditions by taking part in a political protest.

The protest concerned demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The report says the legal action followed Imran’s alleged presence at the CJP demonstration.

The police later issued the notice requiring him to leave India by 28 October.

The FRRO subsequently sent a second notice concerning cancellation of his OCI card.

Imran’s lawyers have rejected the central allegation that he was a participant in the protest.

They say the actor was travelling through the area, was stopped near a barricade and was later detained.

The report says the police stopped Imran at a barricade before August Kranti Maidan.

His legal team has asked for CCTV footage from the area as part of its effort to establish what happened.

The proceedings will therefore involve both the legal rules governing OCI cardholders and the factual question of Imran’s conduct at the protest site.

Aamir Khan meets Raj Thackeray

The dispute also drew attention after Imran’s maternal uncle, actor Aamir Khan, met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray at his Mumbai residence, Shivtirth.

The meeting took place amid the controversy surrounding the notice asking Imran to leave India.

The reason for the meeting has not been disclosed.

Neither Aamir Khan nor Raj Thackeray has issued a statement about it.

Reports said Aamir’s wife, Gauri Spratt, also attended the meeting.

Aamir Khan and Raj Thackeray have had a friendly relationship, and photographs of their earlier meetings have appeared on social media.

The timing of this meeting led to speculation about whether it was connected with Imran’s case.

That speculation increased because Raj Thackeray has also expressed an opinion about Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The report does not confirm that the meeting was related to Imran’s legal proceedings.

The meeting was reported while the Bombay High Court was preparing to hear Imran’s challenge to the notice.

Imran’s family background and early years

The legal controversy has brought renewed attention to Imran’s life and career.

Imran was born in 1983 in Madison, a city in the US state of Wisconsin.

His father, Anil Pal, is an American of Indian Bengali origin and had studied at IIT Bombay.

Mansoor Khan, who later became a film director, was Anil Pal’s classmate there.

Imran’s mother, Nuzhat Khan, is Aamir Khan’s cousin.

Mansoor Khan is Imran’s maternal uncle.

Nuzhat Khan married software engineer Anil Pal and moved to the United States.

Imran’s parents divorced when he was about one and a half years old.

After the divorce, Imran returned to Mumbai with his mother.

He was brought up by Nuzhat Khan.

Imran has said that he uses his mother’s surname, Khan, instead of his father’s surname because his mother raised him largely on her own.

In an interview, he said, “I use the Khan surname because, in a way, my mother raised me alone.”

He also said, “My mother was with me throughout my journey.”

He described that as the reason he used the surname Khan.

Imran spent much of his childhood at his maternal grandparents’ home.

He began his early schooling in Mumbai.

Schooling, hitches and life in the United States

Imran found it difficult to adjust to the major changes in his family and his new surroundings.

He studied at Bombay Scottish School.

In an interview, he said his condition deteriorated so much there that his parents had to take him out of the school.

He said children were beaten with sticks during that period.

Imran said he could not cope with it properly and that his stammering became much worse as a result.

He also said that his grades began to fall.

Later, his mother married actor Raj Zutshi.

Imran was sent to a boarding school in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu.

He then studied at another boarding school in Ooty.

After some years, he returned to the United States to live with his father.

He spent the next several years there.

In California, he completed his schooling.

He then studied filmmaking in Los Angeles.

He returned to India and began his Bollywood career as an actor.

His family background meant that he was also known in Bollywood as Aamir Khan’s nephew.

A strong debut and a place among young stars

Aamir Khan launched Imran as an actor.

Imran’s debut film was the romantic comedy Jaane Tu … Ya Jaane Na, directed by Abbas Tyrewala.

The film was released in 2008 and became one of the major hits of that year.

Imran won the Filmfare award for Best Male Debut.

Film critics described him as “the best young actor of this era”, according to the report.

His next two films, the action films Kidnap and Luck, failed.

His career then entered a successful phase over the following two years.

He appeared as the lead in films backed by major production houses.

These included I Hate Luv Storys, produced by Karan Johar, in 2010.

He also starred in Yash Raj Films’ Mere Brother Ki Dulhan in 2011.

The same year, he appeared in Aamir Khan Productions’ Delhi Belly.

The three films performed well, according to the source.

Imran established himself in Bollywood as a romantic hero.

His name was counted among the leading young stars along with Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh.

The early success made him a visible figure in a generation of young Hindi film actors.

Career setbacks and changing perceptions

After that successful period, Imran’s career graph declined steadily, according to the report.

Criticism of his acting included the view that his range was very limited.

A perception developed that he suited only urban and romantic roles.

Vishal Bhardwaj cast him as a young man from Haryana in Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola in 2012.

Imran trained to speak Haryanvi for the role of social activist Hukum Singh, known as Matru.

The film failed badly at the box office.

Years later, Imran claimed that Bhardwaj had cast him after Ajay Devgn turned down the role.

Imran said Bhardwaj wanted to cast him only to secure a larger budget for the film.

He also said he felt that Bhardwaj was not interested in working with him.

Imran described the experience by saying, “I felt a distance with him.”

He added, “There was no connection, just ‘action’ and ‘cut’.”

He called it “the loneliest film of my life.”

The failures continued with Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! in 2013.

Imran played a gangster in the film, which also featured Akshay Kumar.

After the film failed badly, critics called Imran the weakest link in it.

He then returned to urban romantic roles in Gori Tere Pyaar Mein and Katti Batti.

His co-stars in those films included Kareena Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut.

Neither film performed well at the box office.

Katti Batti, released in 2015, became Imran’s last film as a leading actor.

After five consecutive flops, he left the Hindi film industry.

Personal life and separation

Imran’s personal life also went through changes during this period.

He had been dating Avantika Malik since the age of 19.

The two married in 2011.

They have a daughter named Imara.

The relationship did not continue, and the couple separated in 2019 after eight years.

The separation came alongside the professional difficulties that had already taken Imran away from the film industry.

The source says Bollywood had moved on after Imran was out of the public eye for several years.

His long absence from films became part of the story of his career.

The account of his return is also linked to the mental-health struggles he later discussed publicly.

Imran speaks about depression and anxiety

After several years of silence, a social media post in 2023 brought Imran back into public discussion.

In the post, he referred to difficult days and the pain of his past.

He wrote, “Sorry for the silence… when you have been in the dark for a long time, even sunlight can initially feel unbearable.”

He continued, “We all have some scars, some old wounds that still hurt.”

He added, “But love heals every pain.”

Imran is among the few Indian film stars to have spoken publicly about his struggle with depression and anxiety.

In several interviews, he discussed his difficulties and described how ordinary daily tasks could become extremely difficult.

Recalling that period, he said, “During those years, I was not in a condition to do any of this.”

He added, “For me, even living everyday life had become difficult.”

He also said, “When you are dealing with deep and serious depression, getting up in the morning, brushing your teeth and taking a bath are no less than a very big challenge.”

In an interview with Hindustan Times in 2024, he spoke openly about his depression.

He said, “I go for therapy four times a week.”

Imran also described how he did not recognise his anxiety for a long time.

He said that depression, anxiety and similar difficulties have several aspects that people feel without necessarily recognising them.

He said that understanding begins gradually, as a person becomes more aware of what is happening internally.

He added that he perhaps began to understand it properly around the last months of 2016.

Imran credited his daughter Imara and his partner, Lekha Washington, with helping him come out of that period.

Return to films

Imran returned to Bollywood after a break of 11 years with Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos.

The film arrived in the same year as the report.

His role was a guest appearance rather than a leading part.

The film was not successful at the box office.

He is now scheduled to appear as the lead in director Danish Aslam’s Adhure Hum Adhure Tum.

The film marks his planned return as a leading actor after his last film, Katti Batti, in 2015.

The film is expected to feature him with Bhumi Pednekar.

A report said the film was planned for release on Netflix in December.

Imran was expected to begin its promotion after Diwali.

The current legal situation has raised questions about that plan.

According to the report, the film’s team does not want to begin promotions until the situation becomes clear.

The film’s official release date had not been announced.

The notice has therefore arrived while Imran’s return to leading roles is still being prepared.

The court proceedings may determine how the immediate dispute develops, while the production team’s promotional plans remain uncertain.

Film industry divided over the action

The notice has also produced differing responses from film personalities.

Filmmaker Kiran Rao expressed anger on Instagram.

She wrote, “Wow, now Mumbai Police is doing this?”

Actor Saba Azad also described the action as wrong.

Actor Raza Murad took the opposite view and supported the action.

He said that a foreign citizen does not have the right to interfere in India’s internal matters.

Actor Gajendra Chauhan also praised the action taken by the FRRO and the government.

He said Imran should be sent out of the country within 24 hours instead of being given time until 28 October.

These responses reflect the division over the central issue in the case: whether Imran’s presence at the protest amounted to participation in a political demonstration and whether that justified action under the rules cited in the reports.

The reports do not indicate that the court has yet decided that question.

Why the petition matters for Imran’s return

The petition comes at a point when Imran is attempting to rebuild a film career after a prolonged absence.

His last film as a leading actor was Katti Batti in 2015.

His return through a guest appearance in Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos did not produce a box-office success.

His planned lead role in Adhure Hum Adhure Tum was expected to be the next major step in that return.

The report says the legal dispute could affect the film’s release and promotion plans.

The film was planned for a December release on Netflix, although no official release date had been announced.

The team was waiting for clarity before beginning its promotional campaign.

At the same time, Imran faces the immediate requirement in the first notice to leave India before 28 October.

The second FRRO notice asks him to explain why his OCI card should not be cancelled and gives him 15 days to respond.

His lawyers are seeking relief from the notices and arguing that the action is illegal and arbitrary.

They have also placed before the court his residence in India since he was two years old and the absence of a criminal record or pending case.

The police and the complaint against him rely on the allegation that he participated in the August Kranti Maidan demonstration.

Imran’s lawyers dispute that allegation and have sought CCTV footage to support their version.

The Bombay High Court is scheduled to hear the petition on 26 October, two days before the deadline in the notice.

The proceedings will determine the next stage of the dispute over Imran’s right to remain in India and the status of his OCI card.