American Woman Deported for Misusing Business Visa in India, Govt Tells Court

An American female entrepreneur, who ran a cafe in Puducherry, was deported to the United States, the Indian government informed the Delhi High Court. The woman was detained and denied entry at Chennai airport on Jan. 5, 2018 since she was allegedly using her business visa to run NGO activities.

Kasha Elizabeth Vande had been living in India for several years on a multiple-entry valid business visa. The 48-year-old Franco-American woman first came to India in 1992 when her husband, who was French, got a teaching job in Puducherry.

The high court said that since she was already deported it can’t restrain the authorities from doing so.

“Court is informed that the US national was put on a flight the same day and returned to the US on January 5, 2018.

“In view of the above development, the court granting the relief of restraining the authorities from deporting the woman does not arise,” a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and IS Mehta said, according to the Press Trust of India.

Advocate Kamlesh Kumar Mishra representing Vande said that she was illegally detained at Chennai airport after she arrived via a Kuwait Airlines flight. She had emailed an associate about the incident who sought legal intervention. In the petition, the lawyer said that Vande should be produced before the court.

The court heard that upon her arrival, she went to the immigration counter and was informed that there was some mark on her file and that she would have to depart. She sought permission to contact her lawyers but was unable to do so.

Vande ran a boutique and cafe called Kasha ki Asha, which was run by women and sold products made by women.

The counsel for the Ministry of External Affairs told the court that Vande was blacklisted since she was involved in NGO activities in Puducherry while holding a business visa. However, the woman was never informed about the same, her lawyer said.

The court told Vande’s lawyer that she can seek orders from the appropriate forum about her blacklisting.