The High Court of Karnataka has dismissed a petition filed by a 40-year-old woman, a Chinese national and an accused in an app-based multi-crore fraud case, who had sought direction to the immigration authorities to extend her visa and that of her minor daughter.
Hu Xiaolin, the petitioner, had claimed that she was falsely implicated in the criminal case and sought extension of visa on the grounds that her presence in India was necessary both for investigation and for trial, if a chargesheet was filed against her.
Her husband, Anas Ahmed, is a prime accused in the case.
Apart from seeking extension of visa, she had also sought direction to the Union government to permit her and her minor child to visit China to see her aged and ailing father.
Justice Krishna S. Dixit, while pointing out that in a similar case involving another Chinese national the court had declined such a plea, rejected her petition, stating that there was absolutely no circumstance that differentiates the case of the petitioner from the earlier case.
Treatment of Indians
“The advocate for the petitioner was not in a position to answer the question of the court as to how similarly placed Indian nationals are treated in the Republic of China,” the court pointed out.
The court also observed that “it is a matter of common knowledge the world over that India treats the foreign nationals coming to its territory with due deference. History is replete with such instances, which hardly need to be mentioned.”
Criminal case
The petitioner, along with her husband, and several others, are accused in the criminal case registered by the cybercrime police based on a complaint filed by Razorpay, a payment gateway.
The company, in its complaint filed in 2021, had alleged that several accused persons had used its payment gateway service and defrauded several customers by collecting deposits through an app called, ‘Power Bank’ and others.
