Trapped by Pakistani passport: Delhi High Court allows woman, son to apply for Indian citizenship

The court allowed the woman to apply for Indian citizenship under her original name, after the central government’s counsel suggested that her application could be considered if filed on the online portal under her changed name. However, the court noted that she possessed no documents in that name.

It observed that the travel records indicated her original name and she had travelled to Pakistan under this name.

Background

• The woman held an Indian passport earlier.
• However, upon her marriage to a Pakistani national, it was alleged that her in-laws fraudulently got issued a Pakistani passport under a new name.
• Her son was born in Karachi, and only held a Pakistani passport.
• She claimed that her marriage with the said Pakistani national was dissolved and both the woman and her son returned to India.
• She applied for Indian citizenship under Section 5(1)(f) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (hereinafter, the Act of 1955) and the same was forwarded to the Central Government by the Government of Maharashtra. However, the application was rejected due to inconsistencies in the particulars in her Pakistani passport and the earlier Indian passport .

Section 5(1)(f)

Section 5(1)(f) of the Citizenship Act provides that-

“Subject to the provisions of this section and such other conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed, the Central Government may, on an application made in this behalf, register as a citizen of India any person not being an illegal migrant who is not already such citizen by virtue of the Constitution or of any other provision of this Act if he belongs to any of the following categories, namely-

(f) a person of full age and capacity who, or either of his parents, was earlier citizen of independent India, and (is ordinarily resident in India for twelve months) immediately before making an application for registration.”

Findings

• The petitioners seem to have obtained Pakistani citizenship, and have last held Pakistani passports. The woman has obtained the Pakistani passport after first having had an Indian passport, whereas, her son has held the Pakistani passport right from inception
• It is, thus, seen that for obtaining Indian Citizenship, the petitioners will have to apply in accordance with the provisions of the Sections 5(1)(f) (citizenship by registration) and/or 6 (citizenship by naturalisation) of the Act of 1955.
• It was earlier directed not to repatriate the petitioners outside the country till the conclusion of the case.
• This direction shall remain in force till the petitioners’ applications are not finally decided.
• Since the petitioners had entered into India with a valid passport and have stayed in India under the directions of the court, they shall not be treated to be illegal migrants.
• There does not seem to be any other impediment in considering the petitioners’ application for grant of citizenship under Section 5(1)(f) and/or Section 6 of the Act, 1955.

Directions

• The petitioners shall file application under Section 5(1)(f) and/or Section 6 of the Act, 1955 on official online portal with all requisite documents.
• Once the application is made, the state government shall process the same with due expedition and, thereafter, forward the same to the central government.
• On receipt of such an application, the respondents shall take the final decision with due expedition and without any undue delay.

Advocates Shimpy Arman Sharma, Kiranjeet Rajput, and Shivangi Goel appeared for the petitioners.

Tibetan refugee

In another case, the Delhi High Court on February 2 held that a stateless India-born Tibetan refugee, living in Switzerland as a “stateless” person, qualifies as a “citizen of India by birth” in terms of the Citizenship Act, and is entitled to an Indian passport.