Actor Imran Khan filed a petition before the Bombay High Court on Saturday, 17 October 2026, challenging a departure notice served on him by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office in Mumbai. His legal submission described the directive as without lawful basis and in conflict with constitutional protections.
A filing at the Bombay High Court is expected to be initiated by the actor's defence team on Monday, 19 October 2026, with advocate Zulfikar Memon leading the submission.
On Saturday, the FRRO dispatched a further formal notice to the actor — a holder of an Overseas Citizen of India card who carries United States citizenship — directing him to provide grounds as to why that OCI status ought not to be revoked. A 15-day window has been set for Khan to submit a response. A prior notice had set a departure deadline for the actor of 28 October.
The writ petition lodged by Khan on Saturday put forward the argument that the notice had brought about breaches of Sections 14 and 21 of the Constitution. He contended that the proceedings against him originated from a complaint lodged by a party leader for political reasons, and he raised concerns about whether established procedural safeguards and the principles of natural justice had been observed.
The petitioner's legal team additionally pressed for an explanation of what grounds justified the notice, arguing in court filings that the leave India directive — ordering departure by 28 October 2026 — had been issued without any stated rationale, accompanying documentation, or identification of a particular statutory provision said to have been contravened.
The writ petition contended that the notice was handed down without any prior inquiry, show-cause process, or chance for Khan to address the alleged violations. The petition further characterised his brief police detention on 10 October — the same day he took part in a Mumbai demonstration calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar — as unwarranted. At the checkpoint outside August Kranti Maidan, his path was blocked and authorities took him into custody shortly after.
Khan told reporters that news of his inclusion in an FIR reached him only through media coverage, not through any direct official notification. He maintained that the notice lacked any reference to a particular violation and that his profile as a public figure had made him a target without justification.
Khan's petition described the notice served on him as showing a clear absence of considered judgment, and went on to argue that the Local Improvement Notice, if enforced, would strip the respondents' own obligation to uphold natural justice of any practical force.
Khan maintained in his filing that no provision of the Immigration and Foreigners Act or the Citizenship Act had been contravened by him. The petition further set out that no assembly was under way at the time of his arrival, that he had kept clear of any restricted or cordoned-off zone, that no police instruction to depart had gone unheeded, and that his detention came about only after members of the press gathered around him as he made his way back toward his vehicle parked nearby.
The petition described him as someone who had lived in India from the age of two, pointing to longstanding family connections, a marriage, schooling, and a career built there, alongside an unblemished record with the law. A nephew of actor Aamir Khan, Imran Khan has built his own presence in Hindi cinema through appearances across a number of films.
