The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to expunge remarks by a single-judge bench about “objectionable” social media posts by Sweden-based professor of Indian origin Ashok Swain, reported Live Law.

On March 28, Justice Sachin Dutta set aside an order by the Union government cancelling the Overseas Citizen of India card of Swain.

The judge had stated that even though the professor’s posts “undermine the constitutional apparatus and legitimacy of the Indian state itself”, he should be granted an opportunity to submit an explanation or take remedial steps.

Overseas Citizenship of India is an immigration status that allows foreigners of Indian origin to live and work in India indefinitely.

Swain, who holds Swedish citizenship, is an academic and professor of peace and conflict research at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Sweden’s Uppsala University.

He moved the High Court on Wednesday seeking to expunge Dutta’s remarks.

A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela stated that in his order, Dutta had clarified that the remarks were not part of the findings of the case.

“They are only prima facie opinion,” said the bench. “It is not even an opinion. The exact word is that it ‘appears’. It is not even a tentative opinion.”

While setting aside a July 2023 order cancelling Swain’s Overseas Citizen of India card, Dutta had on March 28 allowed the Union government to issue a fresh show cause notice to the professor, “thus, enabling him to present his explanation, if any”.

On Wednesday, Swain’s counsel told the High Court that although he had deleted some of his posts, the judge’s remarks may be “used as a handle by the authorities while doing a fresh objective determination of his OCI card cancellation issue”, reported Live Law.

After the bench said it was not inclined to interfere with the single-judge order, Swain’s counsel withdrew the petition, reported The Indian Express.

In February 2022, Swain’s Overseas Citizen of India card was cancelled on the basis of allegations that he had delivered inflammatory speeches and promoted “anti-India” activities, reported The Tribune.

The March 28 order was the second time that the High Court set aside an order cancelling Swain’s Overseas Citizen of India card.

The High Court had passed a similar judgement on July 10, 2023, when it told the Centre to pass a detailed order explaining why it was using its powers under the Citizenship Act to cancel Swain’s Overseas Citizen of India card.

The Centre then passed another order cancelling the card, which Swain challenged again before the High Court.

The professor said in his petition that despite the High Court’s “specific and unequivocal directions” to pass a detailed order, the Embassy of India to Sweden and Latvia passed a fresh ruling in a “callous” manner. He claimed the embassy only paraphrased legal provisions about cancelling Overseas Citizen of India cards.