YouTube vlogger Karl Rock blacklisted for violation of visa condition: Centre to Delhi HC

The Centre on Friday told the Delhi High Court that YouTube vlogger Karl Rock has been blacklisted for violation of visa condition and was conducting business on spouse visaldquoHe has been blacklisted for visa violation Let me file a status report He was conducting business on spouse visardquo counsel for the Centre advocate Anurag Ahluwalia told a bench of Justice Rekha PalliThe court was hearing a petition by Manisha Malik the wife of the vlogger challenging the Centres alleged arbitrary and unreasonable decision to deny visa to her husband to enter IndiaThe court said that while grant of visa was the prerogative of the Centre it has to be reasonable and be communicated to the partyldquoYou may be justified but they have to know It is the prerogative of the government but they have to be justifiablerdquo the court said while issuing notice to the Centre on the petition and granted three weeks time to it to file its responseIf there is any confidential information it is open to the Centre to furnish the same in a sealed cover the court addedThe Counsel for Malik advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi informed the court that his client received no word from the government on the denial of visa and while exiting India in October last year the visa was simply stamped ldquocancelled without prejudicerdquoI asked for an extension and instead they gave me an exit permit Ayyubi statedHe added that during his stay in India the vlogger even donated plasma twice after recovering from Covid19The matter would be heard next on September 23In her petition Malik has submitted that her husband Karl Edward Rice visited most of India to capture its beauty and contribute to the promotion of tourism hereThe plea said since their marriage in 2019 the couple has been living in Delhi and Rice has not been able to return to India from New Zealand since October 10 last yearThe petitioners husband Karl Edward Rice has a dual nationality New Zealand and Netherlands and has been visiting India since 2013 strictly abiding by the laws of the country and the conditions of visaDuring the entire period since 2013 while the petitioners husband has been granted Indian visa on various occasions there hasnt been even a single allegation against the petitioners husband the plea saidSubsequent to their marriage Rice was granted an X2 Visa meant for spousechildren of an Indian citizen which had a validity period of May 2019 to May 2024 and one of the conditions in the visa for him was to exit India every 180 days or to intimate the Foreigner Regional Registration Office concernedComplying with the aforesaid condition of exiting the nation while Rice left India on October 10 2020 he has not been able to return to India because any application for issuance of an Indian visa is being rejected by the respondentsWhile the petitioner has been running from pillar to post and no reasons are communicated to either Karl Edward Rice or to the petitioner herself as to on what basis her husbands request for issuance of visa have been rejected the petition said adding that Rice was only verbally informed that he has been blacklisted and therefore he is not permitted to enter IndiaThe plea sought direction to authorities to call for records pertaining to cancellation of visa and unilateral blacklisting of Rice and also sought to review or quash the decision blacklisting him and allow him entry to IndiaAs an alternative the plea sought to direct the authorities to grant a meaningful hearing to the couple on the sudden blacklisting of RiceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever