Indian-origin scholar at Oxford faces deportation from UK after overstaying in India

An Indian-origin scholar is facing deportation after the UK’s Home Office ruled that she exceeded her permitted time conducting research in India, where she accessed historical archives, as per reports.

Dr Manikarnika Dutta is an Oxford graduate and Research Associate at Faculty of History, Centre for the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology.

As per reports, Dutta moved to the UK in 2012 to pursue a Master’s degree at the University of Oxford, later securing a spouse visa as the dependent of her husband, Souvik Naha, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow.

Applicants for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) based on long residency must not have spent more than 548 days abroad over a ten-year period, according to gov.uk.

The reports suggest that the scholar whose research required access to historical archives in India, was away for 691 days.

According to a US media report, her lawyer, Naga Kandiah, at MTC Solicitors said that these research trips were not optional but essential to fulfilling her academic and institutional obligations. 

Had she not undertaken these trips, she would not have been able to complete her thesis, meet the academic requirements of her institutions or maintain her visa status, according to her lawyer.

Rejecting her application, the Home Office said, “You must now leave the United Kingdom. If you don’t leave voluntarily you may be subject to a re-entry ban of 10 years and prosecuted for overstaying.”