Actor Imran Khan moves Bombay High Court to challenge Mumbai police ‘Leave India’ notice

Imran Khan’s petition in the Bombay High Court

Bollywood actor Imran Khan, a United States citizen and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder, filed a petition in the Bombay High Court on Saturday, October 17, 2026, challenging a Mumbai police notice that directed him to leave India by October 28, according to reporting from the Press Trust of India carried by Business Standard, the Times of India, the New Indian Express, the Deccan Chronicle, OneIndia, Rediff.com and India Today. The 43-year-old actor’s plea was filed electronically through advocate Zulfiquar Memon and MZM Legal, and the petition is expected to be mentioned for an urgent hearing before a division bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna.

Allegations against the notice and the grounds of the challenge

In the petition, Khan described the Mumbai police notice as “illegal, arbitrary, perverse and drastic” and argued that it was issued “without disclosing any reasons, supporting material…without inquiry, a show-cause notice, or any opportunity for the Petitioner (Khan) to respond to the alleged violations,” according to Business Standard’s report on the plea. The petition stated that the notice “reflects patent non-application of mind and the arbitrary targeting” of Khan as a public figure and contends that, if implemented, it would reduce “the very principles of natural justice…to nothing but a dead letter.” Khan’s lawyers separately called the notice “abrupt and arbitrary,” with OneIndia reporting that he argued it was issued “without providing him an opportunity to be heard.”

OCI status and the protest that preceded the notice

The notice followed Khan’s reported participation in a Mumbai demonstration at August Kranti Maidan on October 10, 2026, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, according to a Firstpost explainer published the same day. The petition denied that Khan had any “association, affiliation or connection whatsoever with any organization or institution involved in organizing or mobilising the protest” and said he had not breached barricades or disobeyed police orders, having been apprehended “only after the media surrounded him.” It further argued that “no law or statutory rules prohibit an OCI cardholder from participating in a peaceful protest,” and that no specific breach of the Immigration and Foreigners Act or the Citizenship Act had been cited, as reported by Business Standard and the New Indian Express.

Parallel FRRO show-cause notice and OCI status

Separately from the police notice, Khan also received a show-cause notice from Mumbai’s Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) asking why his OCI status should not be canceled, according to Rediff.com, Business Standard and OneIndia. OneIndia reported that the petition also asked the court to set aside the FRRO notice, dated October 14, and to stay the operation of the police notice during the pendency of the proceedings.

Relief sought and personal background cited

Khan has asked the High Court to quash the notice, grant an interim stay on its operation while the petition remains pending, and restrain authorities from taking any coercive steps against him, Business Standard reported. The petition emphasized that Khan “has resided peacefully in India since he was two years old, has deep-rooted familial, marital, educational and professional ties to the country, and has no criminal antecedents,” according to the same report. Khan identified himself in the plea as a US citizen and framed the notice as an infringement of his fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, OneIndia and the New Indian Express reported.

What remains pending before the court

The petition was filed on Saturday, October 17, 2026, and is listed to be mentioned for urgent hearing before the Bombay High Court division bench. As of publication of the cited reports, no bench order on the interim stay was recorded, and the FRRO show-cause proceeding on Khan’s OCI status remained pending alongside the police notice’s October 28 deadline.