New Delhi

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday set aside the Centre’s decision rejecting journalist Siddharth Varadarajan’s request to convert his Person of Indian Origin (PIO) status into an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), observing that the government’s refusal lacked any recorded reasons.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, while hearing the matter, restored Varadarajan’s application and directed the authorities to reconsider it in accordance with law and issue a fresh, reasoned order.

The court noted that upon examining the communication issued to the petitioner, it found that the request for conversion from PIO to OCI had been rejected without assigning any grounds for the decision. Justice Kaurav observed that without reasons being recorded, an appellate court would be unable to properly examine the legality of such an order, stressing that reasons form the very foundation of any judicial or administrative decision.

Accordingly, the court quashed the impugned communication and revived the petitioner’s application for fresh consideration under the applicable legal framework.

During the proceedings, counsel representing the Centre sought time to obtain further instructions. However, the court orally observed that the existing order could not be sustained in its current form and required reconsideration through a properly reasoned decision.

The court also clarified that if the petitioner remains dissatisfied with any future decision, he would be free to pursue appropriate legal remedies.

Separately, the high court listed for hearing on Wednesday Varadarajan’s plea seeking permission to travel and directed the Centre’s counsel to obtain instructions on that aspect as well.

Appearing for the journalist, senior counsel submitted that Varadarajan, an American journalist with Indian roots, has been a PIO card holder for several years. She argued that although all PIO cards were automatically deemed to be OCI cards after the policy changes introduced in 2015, his existing card had become non-machine-readable, making it necessary for him to formally seek conversion.

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She further told the court that the Centre had rejected his request and communicated the decision to him on April 2. The counsel also pointed out that Varadarajan was born to Indian parents, his wife is an Indian citizen, and he has been travelling in and out of India regularly since 1995. She added that while his PIO card remains valid until 2032, its technical unreadability has created practical difficulties.