No right to visa or renewal for foreigners, rules Karnataka High Court

Bengaluru: A foreigner has no right to insist on a visa or its renewal, the Karnataka high court has observed in a recent judgement. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha said this while dismissing the writ appeal filed by Obinna Jeremiah Okafor and John Adewagh Vandefan, both Nigerian nationals, challenging the August 14, 2025, order of the single bench.

Obinna Jeremiah Okafor, John Adekwagh and Cyril Udoka Odigbo, who did not prefer appeal, prayed before the single bench that they be released from detention. Obinna and John challenged the single bench order rejecting their petition. 

It is stated that while one petitioner is pursuing Bachelor of Commerce at Sree Omkar College of Commerce and Management, Sathanur, Bengaluru, the other had come to India on a student visa to study MSc, Computer Sciences at Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He claimed that he was in the process of shifting to a new institution in Bengaluru and therefore had arrived in the city a few days prior to his arrest.

On December 23, 2024, movement restriction orders were issued against the three and they were sent to Aasare Foundation Trust, Laggere, Bengaluru. The authorities stated that Obinna Jeremiah Okafor was in possession of a fake Tanzanian passport in the name of David Masinde Edgar, with an Indian visa, which was issued to a Sri Lankan national. Though the Anti-Narcotic Wing, Central Crime Branch, Bengaluru, acknowledged that no narcotics were recovered from them, examination of their mobile phones revealed that they contained information concerning the sale of narcotics, it was submitted.  

The appellants contended that the action taken by the authorities was in violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. It was further argued that the Movement Restriction order was issued in violation of the principles of natural justice and they could not present their defence. It was submitted that the appellants are bonafide students and have the right to complete the course.

The division bench noted that the union government has the authority to issue an order expelling any foreigner from India. “The foreigner is then required to comply with such an order. It is well settled that the rights under Article 19 (1)(d) and 19(1)(e) of the Constitution of India, which are the right to move freely throughout India and the right to reside and settle in any part of the country, are available only to citizens of India and not to foreigners,” the division bench said.

The bench further noted that even if the decision to cancel the visas is faulted on the ground that it violated the principles of procedural fairness, the visas would have expired by efflux of time. “And, a foreigner has no right to insist on a visa or its renewal. The right to decline a grant or extension of a visa is clearly an unfettered sovereign right, and it is not necessary for the State to provide any explanation for denying a visa,” the bench said.