Russian woman moves HC to get deported

Ahmedabad, Jan 27: A Russian woman, facing charges of overstaying in India, has approached the Gujarat High Court to get deported to her country at the earliest and also to quash an FIR lodged against her in the city.

In her first petition filed on January 3, the woman, Anastasiia Leonskaia (38), has pleaded that since she had lost her passport during her stay in India, she should be granted an "exit clearance" and sent to her country.

When the matter was being heard by Justice V M Pancholi, the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Ahmedabad, on January 22, lodged an FIR against her under various sections of the Foreigners Act.

The FRRO claimed that Leonskaia had illegally entered India from Nepal in December, 2016 and had overstayed here.

Leonskaia and her one-and-a-half-year-old son, who was born in Goa, are currently residing at Valsad. The woman has claimed that she was robbed in India.

In her petition, filed before Justice Sonia Gokani on Friday, seeking quashing of the FIR, Leonskaia said, "The FRRO should look into the circumstances that forced the applicant to overstay in India and also the circumstances of robbery which left the applicant with no monetary help and assistance."

Her lawyer Nachiket Dave told the court that the FIR should be quashed as the trial would further extend her stay in India.

Admitting the petition, Justice Gokani issued a notice to the FRRO and adjourned the matter till January 29.

Earlier this month, Leonskaia had approached the high court, seeking directions to the immigration authorities to grant her and her son an "exit clearance".

She had claimed that though she had applied for it on December 10 last year, the FRRO had taken no decision on her application.

Leonskaia said though she had produced all the required documents before the FRRO to get the exit clearance in the absence of her passport, the authorities had not taken any concrete step to facilitate her deportation.

She had said it was well within the legal rights and powers of the FRRO to "deport" her to her native country.

If she did not return to her country at the earliest, her seven-year-old daughter, currently under the care of her teacher, would be sent to an orphanage by the Russian government, Leonskaia had said.