Nicosia, Cyprus. A court has found fault with the cabinet’s earlier decision to revoke the citizenship of Indian investor Anubhav Aggarwal, reports said on Tuesday.
Case linked to citizenship-by-investment programme
The case concerns Indian national Anubhav Aggarwal, who secured a Cypriot passport in 2016 under the now-defunct citizenship-via-investment programme.
In 2021, following a report by a commission of inquiry known as the Nikolatos committee, the cabinet moved to revoke the passports of scores of foreign investors, with Aggarwal among those affected.
Revocation committee opinion and cabinet decision
The cabinet sought the opinion of the citizenship revocation committee, which concluded that Aggarwal had misled authorities in his citizenship application by omitting to mention he had been implicated in a financial fraud case under investigation in India. The cabinet accepted this opinion and cancelled Aggarwal’s citizenship.
Aggarwal’s wife and son also had their Cypriot citizenships revoked.
Administrative court ruling
Aggarwal appealed the decision to the administrative court. Earlier this week, the administrative court ruled in his favour, according to Phileleftheros.
Background to the allegations
From 2011 to 2014, Aggarwal had been an executive with ARK Imports Private Limited, the company implicated in a spot exchange scam in India.
In 2020, he was reportedly arrested in Abu Dhabi on the strength of an international warrant, a red notice issued by Interpol.
What do you think this ruling could mean for other citizenship revocation cases in Cyprus?