Madras HC upholds OCI cancellation of US citizen over missionary activities

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has upheld the cancellation of a US citizen's Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) registration, citing materials showing his involvement in preaching and missionary activities in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh without prior official permission.

In his petition challenging the cancellation of his OCI registration by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer-cum-Civil Authority, John Daniel submitted that he was granted OCI registration in February 2015 and visited India for personal and family-related purposes, including to care for his 92-year-old mother.

He denied violating any law governing OCI cardholders or engaging in missionary activities or religious conversions. He also argued that the authorities had not identified the dates of the alleged conversion activities or the persons who were allegedly compelled to convert. Also, he was not given an opportunity to be heard before cancelling the registration, he said.

The Centre produced posters showing him delivering speeches at religious meetings in Andhra Pradesh and other documents relating to his missionary activities to claim that Daniel was a missionary attached to the Laymen's Evangelical Fellowship.

After perusing the documents and hearing arguments from both sides, Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy observed that Daniel was a professional missionary who spread the word of 'God' in relation to his religion. There were substantial materials showing that he had consistently addressed congregations and meetings at various places in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, with advertisements inviting the public to attend.

These materials could not be considered fabricated, said the judge, adding that Daniel's claim that he had never engaged in missionary activities in India and had visited only to meet his mother, family and friends was, on the face of it, a lie.

The court noted that, in his reply to the show-cause notice and before the court, he had broadly denied the allegations rather than disputing any specific incident or activity. Instead, he only maintained that he visited India only to meet his mother and relatives.

Justice Chakravarthy also pointed out that Section 7-D of the Citizenship Act, 1955, empowers the government to cancel OCI registration if the cardholder violates any provision of the Act or any other law specified by the central government. It also noted that the central government registers OCI cardholders subject to conditions and grants them rights under Section 7-B of the Act.

The court rejected Daniel's plea for a further opportunity to present his case in detail and dismissed the writ petition. However, it clarified that he was free to apply for a regular visa to visit his mother, but could conduct meetings and religious activities in India only after obtaining the requisite official permission.