Aamir Khan Visits Raj Thackeray as Imran Khan Row Grows

Aamir Khan's Sunday visit to Raj Thackeray's home in Dadar has drawn attention in Mumbai's political circles, because it came days after his nephew, actor Imran Khan, was told to leave India by Oct. 28. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) says the two men meet often and that the visit had nothing to do with Imran. Neither Aamir nor Thackeray has said what they discussed. Here is what the reports say, and what remains unknown.

A balcony chat at Shivtirth

The Times of India reports that Aamir met the MNS chief on Sunday, Oct. 18, at Shivtirth, Thackeray's residence near Shivaji Park. Photographs circulating on social media, the paper says, show the two chatting on the balcony of the house. The New Indian Express, which carried an IANS photograph of the pair, also places the meeting at Shivtirth.

The Times of India says the meeting "created a buzz in political circles" because of its timing. The Indian Express reports that the details of the conversation were not immediately known. News18, in its daily entertainment roundup, notes that the meeting drew attention for the same reason and that neither man has said what was discussed.

What the MNS says

An MNS functionary, quoted by the Times of India and the New Indian Express with inputs from PTI, said the meeting had no connection to Imran Khan's legal troubles. According to that functionary, Aamir and Thackeray share a close relationship and meet frequently.

The friendship is not new. The Indian Express says the two have shared friendly relations for years and have attended family functions hosted by each other. The Times of India adds that Thackeray was among the guests at Aamir's wedding to his long-time partner Gauri Spratt in July.

Both papers also point to the politics around the case. The Times of India and the New Indian Express report that the MNS has taken part in protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and that Thackeray has criticised the Centre's handling of those protests. That overlap is a large part of why the visit has drawn so much comment, even though the party denies any link.

Why Imran Khan is in the news

Imran Khan, who was born in the United States in 1983, holds an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, according to the Times of India. The paper says he was granted OCI status on Dec. 15, 2006.

The New Indian Express reports that he was briefly detained on Oct. 10 at August Kranti Maidan, at a demonstration held in support of the Cockroach Janta Party's call for the Chief Election Commissioner's resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

A leave India notice followed on Oct. 14, directing him to leave by Oct. 28, according to the Indian Express and the Times of India. Reports differ on who issued it. The Indian Express and the Times of India attribute it to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Mumbai, while PTI copy carried by The Hindu describes it as a Mumbai Police notice issued under Sections 7 and 29 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act.

On Saturday, Oct. 17, he moved the Bombay High Court. PTI, as carried by The Hindu, reports that his petition calls the notice "illegal, arbitrary, perverse and drastic" and seeks to have it quashed, with a stay and protection from coercive action in the meantime. The Indian Express says the plea also asks for protection against deportation, a Look Out Circular, blacklisting and any action affecting his OCI status.

A second notice and a court date

The same day, the FRRO sent Imran a show-cause notice asking why his OCI registration should not be cancelled, the Times of India reports. The paper says he has 15 days to reply, and that the notice itself acknowledges that a detention or an FIR is not by itself conclusive proof of the allegations or an automatic ground for cancellation.

His lawyer, Zulfiquar Memon of MZM Legal, told the Times of India that the legal team was examining the new notice and would reply and cooperate with the FRRO, but would also raise the status of the earlier notice before the High Court.

On Monday, Oct. 19, his senior counsel Venkatesh Dhond sought an urgent hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna, The Hindu reports, citing PTI. The Union government's counsel asked for time, and the court listed the matter for Oct. 26, two days before the deadline in the notice. Dhond told the court that Imran had no criminal antecedents, had lived in India since he was two, and had been detained halfway there, before he reached the protest. The court also asked him to add the Maharashtra government as a respondent.

What we do not know

We could not find an on-record statement from Aamir Khan about the visit or about his nephew's case. The only account of the meeting's purpose comes from an unnamed MNS functionary, and it is a denial of any link, not a description of what was said.

It is also not yet clear how the two notices fit together, a question Imran's lawyer has said he will put to the High Court. Until the hearing on Oct. 26, readers should treat any claim about what Aamir and Thackeray discussed as speculation.

Sources

Cover photo: President's Secretariat, Wikimedia Commons, [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_President,_Smt._Pratibha_Devisingh_Patil_presenting_Padma_Bhushan_Award_to_Shri_Amir_Khan,_at_the_Civil_Investiture_Ceremony-I,_at_Rashtrapati_Bhavan,_in_New_Delhi_on_March_31,_2010.jpg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_President,_Smt._Pratibha_Devisingh_Patil_presenting_Padma_Bhushan_Award_to_Shri_Amir_Khan,_at_the_Civil_Investiture_Ceremony-I,_at_Rashtrapati_Bhavan,_in_New_Delhi_on_March_31,_2010.jpg) (GODL-India).