One part of a legal challenge to the Commonwealth’s India travel ban was comprehensively defeated in the Federal Court on Monday evening. Justice Thawley rejected all the arguments made by the applicant, Gary Newman, a 73-year-old Australian citizen who has been in India since March 2020. Newman’s challenge was divided into two stages. The first stage was heard and dismissed by the Federal Court on Monday. This leaves open the possibility Newman will proceed with the second stage, which is a constitutional challenge. However, there may be no time to do so, assuming that the ban is lifted on Friday 15 May, as proposed.