New Zealand vlogger Karl Rock's wife Manisha Malik moves Delhi HC, seeks to quash blacklist order

New Zealand vlogger Karl Rock had earlier claimed that that the government added him to the blacklist without giving him a reason after he left India to travel to Dubai and Pakistan, thereby separating him from his wife and family in New Delhi.

India on Saturday blacklisted Karl Rock, a YouTuber of New Zealand origin, for one year over visa violations. His wife, Manisha Malik, moved the Delhi high court later in the day seeking a quashing of the blacklisting order issued by the Union ministry of home affairs which prevented her husband from returning to India.

Karl Rock had said that his wife Manisha Malik hails from Haryana and that by blacklisting him, the government is separating him from his wife and family. (Photo via Twitter)

The matter is likely to be heard by the Delhi high court next week, reports indicated.

Karl Rock is the YouTube moniker of Karl Edward Rice, a vlogger of New Zealand origin. The Government of India said that he was blacklisted for violating visa conditions on being found doing business on a tourist visa. The vlogger had earlier claimed that that the government added him to the blacklist without giving him a reason after he left India to travel to Dubai and Pakistan, thereby separating him from his wife and family in New Delhi.

In her petition to the Delhi high court on Saturday, Manisha Malik raised the "arbitrary and unreasonable blacklisting" of her husband and claimed that his fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution has been violated under the blacklisting order.

Malik said that her husband, Karl Edward Rice, has strictly followed all Indian laws ever since he started visiting the country in 2013. Following his marriage with Manisha Malik, a resident of Haryana, Rice was granted an X-2 visa -- meant for the spouse of children of an Indian citizen, the petition mentioned, adding that the visa is set to expire on March 5, 2024.

Now, one of the conditions of the X-2 visa compels the individual to exit India every 180 days or intimate the concerned foreign regional registration office (FRRO) for the same, but when Rice left the country in October last year, he has not been able to return due to non-issuance of visa, the petition mentioned.

Moreover, there has been an alarming "non-communication" and "continued silence" maintained by the Indian side on the vlogger's inquiries over his ban, the petition said, urging the court to cancel the blacklisting order.

In a tweet addressed to New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday, Karl Rock had highlighted his "struggle" and a petition that he launched in this regard. He also tagged a bunch of senior diplomats, journalists, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's official handles on the tweet.