An FIR against Ilina was filed after some foreign delegates arrived in Wardha to attend an academic conference organised by the Indian Association for Women's Studies (IAWS) and the Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Vishwavidyalaya (MGAV) last month.
Ilina, an executive committee member of IAWS and head of MGAV's Women's Studies Department, was booked under sections 7 and 14 of the Foreigners Act. The police also arrested the owner of a local hotel where some foreigners were staying on account of the management's failure to inform them of their arrival.
The Foreigners Act requires hotel keepers and other persons who own, occupy or control the premises where foreigners are accommodated to submit such information to the authorities in a prescribed format known as 'Form C'.
"It is unclear how (Ilina) Sen has been booked under the Act given that the relevant provisions apply only to persons who furnish lodging to foreigners for payment. So, the Home Ministry has requested the state government to withdraw the case filed against Sen," an official said.
Full political and security clearance from the Ministries of Home Affairs and the External Affairs had been obtained in advance for the participation of the foreign delegates who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The FIR filed by the ATS Nagpur Unit notes that Form 'C' as prescribed under the Foreigners Act has not been filed by the university.
However, Form 'C' pertains only to 'hotel arrival information' and does not contemplate the present situation in any manner.
Ilina's husband Binayak has been convicted recently by a Raipur court for helping Maoists.