The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Charnjit Singh Bains, a person of Indian origin holding a foreign passport and an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, who was denied entry to India on arrival in New Delhi earlier this year. The case is Charnjit Singh Bains v. Union of India and Others, neutral citation 2026:DHC:9891.

Source: Verdictum

According to the court reporting, Bains was served with an order dated January 7, 2026, issued under Paragraph 6 of the Foreigners Order, 1948, when he arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. He was not permitted to land in India and was directed to leave by the first available flight. His petition argued that the order did not disclose any reasons or grounds for the refusal of entry.

Source: Verdictum

The Central Government's counsel opposed the plea, telling the court that the petitioner had been blacklisted from entering the country because he is a registered child sex offender in the United States of America.

Source: Jurisight

A single bench of Justice Amit Mahajan held that, in the court's opinion, once the respondents have received information that an individual has been involved in a crime of such nature in a foreign country, they are well within their rights to prevent such a person from setting foot on Indian soil.

Source: Verdictum

The bench found that the petitioner had failed to put forward any circumstance warranting the exercise of the court's jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution, and dismissed the petition. Bains was represented by advocate Anand Duggal, according to the reporting.

Source: Verdictum

The ruling affirms that refusing entry at the border is treated by the court as a sovereign function of the state, and that an OCI card does not override a blacklisting based on a foreign record of a child sex offence, on the facts placed before the bench in this case.