Exit permit to US citizen only after she pays full MBBS course fee as per NRI quota: Karnataka HC
Bengaluru, Mar 20: A US citizen who approached the High Court of Karnataka seeking a direction to the Union Government and Bureau of Immigration to issue her an exit permit has been ordered to pay the full fee of her MBBS course. Coming to India on a tourist visa as a child, she had completed her education throughout claiming to be an Indian citizen. It was only when she sought an exit permit from India that it came to light that she was an US citizen on an unauthorised stay in India.
''The petitioner has shamelessly resorted to falsehood and achieved her goals by unethical means as indicated hereinabove. Curious enough, the petitioner is not even wanting to pursue her career in this country, having secured benefits throughout her career contending that she is an Indian,'' Justice M Nagaprasanna said in his judgment recently. The Court allowed the issuance of an exit permit to her subject to her paying the course fee applicable to a NRI/Overseas citizen of India. It also directed the authorities not to subject her to legal proceedings for unauthorised stay considering the peculiar facts of the case.
The Court said, ''But she is a student, who would not be aware of the consequence of law or consequences of the aforesaid breach of falsehood. Therefore, this Court would direct the respondents – the Union of India and the Bureau of Immigration, to hold their coercive arm of law to be stretched upon the petitioner in the peculiar facts of this case, subject to the condition that the petitioner would pay all the fees, for all the five years of the MBBS course at the rate of the fee that would be charged to NRI/Overseas citizen of India treating the petitioner’s admission to be in that category and the fee to be paid to the State, taking a lenient view of the matter.'' The 24-year-old was born in Nashville, Tennessee, USA in 1997. She had a US passport and based on it came to India as a child in 2003 on a tourist visa.
Her visa expired in December 2003 but she continued to stay in India without renewing it. Her US passport too expired in 2004.
She completed her schooling and PU in India. She wrote the Common Entrance Test in 2015 and was allotted a medical seat in Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences under the quota reserved for candidates sponsored by the Government. She completed the course.
After becoming a major, she did not renounce her citizenship of USA but applied for a fresh passport, which was granted in 2021. She filed an application before the Bureau of Immigration for exit permit which was refused.
Her stay in India from December 2003 onwards was counted as illegal stay. She then approached the High Court against the Union Government and the Bureau of Immigration.
The Court rejected her contention that she was an Indian citizen as she had not renounced her citizenship of USA within six months of attaining full age.
The Court said that it was reprehensible that she projected herself to be an Indian and completed her studies and obtained a MBBS seat on a Government quota ''thus takes away the seat of a genuine Indian who would have secured the seat under the Government quota.''
Though the Court said that the authorities ''would be well within the four corners of law to initiate any proceedings against the petitioner,'' considering the peculiar facts of the case, it allowed the exit permit for her to go back to the US but after paying the MBBS fee.
''Therefore, the exit permit is directed to be issued subject to the aforesaid condition, all, again, owing to the peculiar facts of the case and the conduct of the petitioner misrepresenting herself to be an Indian, snatching away the career of an Indian. In the aforesaid circumstances, if the petitioner is left off the hook without any condition, it would be putting a premium on the misrepresentation that she has made throughout calling herself to be an 'Indian Citizen',” the High Court said.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
