Cell phone-making firm moves court after govt issues 'Leave India' notices to 59 Chinese experts, terms move 'arbitrary'

A cellphone-manufacturing company on Wednesday approached the Bombay High Court, challenging the validity of the “Leave India” notices issued to 59 Chinese experts who were scheduled to visit its plants in Daman and Silvassa. The Times of India reported that the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) had issued the notices to the Chinese nationals on 15 December for alleged violations of their business visa conditions after inspecting a plant of Pacific Cyber Technology Private Limited. In its appeal, the company has called the notices drastic, unjustifiable and arbitrary, adding that they violate the company’s rights to equality and trade as such visits by foreign experts for technical guidance have been an “essential industry norm” over the past two years. Pacific Cyber Technology, which designs, develops and assembles mobile phones, also argued that the Chinese nationals share technical know-how and their expertise with local workers, DNA reported. Justices BP Dharmadhikari and Sarang Kotwal of the Bombay High Court will hear the petition on Friday. Advocate Nausher Kohli representing the company had sought an urgent hearing as the Chinese workers had been ordered to leave immediately. He pointed out that at least six of them had already left India even though their visas were still valid, and that nearly all of them had 180-day visas, The Times of India reported. [caption id=“attachment_522499” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption] “The notices have been issued to customer representatives, supplier representatives, and representatives of the Hong Kong Entities who were visiting the plants to provide technical guidance to employees,” the petition read, according to DNA. “Experts visit the plants to impart training on running highly sophisticated machines effectively and to detect defective machines on the machine line itself,” stated the petition, filed by Pacific Cyber Technology. The plea also added that its plants — “committed to the Make in India movement” — are recipients of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s modified special incentive package scheme, and that the Chinese nationals were “customer representatives, supplier representatives and representatives of the Hong Kong Entities who were visiting the plants to provide technical guidance to employees”. Emphasising that its business would be affected and could even come to a standstill if the Chinese experts were sent back, Pacific Cyber Technology sought to have the “Leave India” notices set aside. Pacific Cyber Technology has a registered office in Mumbai and cell phone-manufacturing plants in Daman and Silvassa.