Citizenship: Delhi High Court relief for persons of Tibetan origin

Persons of Tibetan descent born in India between 1950 and 1987 will now no longer need to approach the home ministry for “confirmation” of citizenship.

Citing earlier judgments, the bench of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva quashed an internal office memorandum of the Ministry of Home Affairs and held that all such persons of Tibetan origin born in India would be considered citizens by birth as defined under Section 3 of the Indian Citizenship Act. The bench has directed the MHA to issue passports to the petitioners within four weeks.

The 2010 decision of the MHA had required persons of Tibetan descent to “confirm citizenship” through application to the ministry before they could be issued a passport.