A view of the departure hall at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi

Alex Carlile, who is a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the chief legal consultant to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, was scheduled to hold a press conference in New Delhi but was deported on the grounds of not having a valid visa. Earlier, Lord Carlile had also tried to address the media in Bangladesh but was denied entry.

New Delhi  – A British member of Parliament and barrister, Lord Alexander Carlile, was deported back to his country soon after he landed at an airport in New Delhi from London.

"Lord Alexander Carlile, a British national, arrived in New Delhi on July 11, 2018, without having obtained the appropriate Indian visa. His intended activity in India was incompatible with the purpose of his visit as mentioned in his visa application. It was therefore decided to deny him entry into India upon arrival," the Ministry of External Affairs' spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar, said.

Lord Alexander Carlile is a member of the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament. He is also one of Britain's leading legal experts and the chief legal consultant of the former Bangladeshi prime minister, Khalida Zia. 

Lord Carlile was scheduled to hold a press conference along with Khalida Zia's legal team and members of the BNP at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia in New Delhi on July 13 on the jail term meted out to Khalida Zia who is facing several cases of corruption, allegedly committed when she was prime minister of Bangladesh. Zia is currently in jail after being convicted of taking $253,000 in foreign donations received by an orphanage trust when she was prime minister.