Kerala High Court sets aside order directing grant of Indian citizenship to minors of Pakistani origin

The Kerala High Court recently set aside a single judge's order that had directed grant of Indian citizenship to two minors of Pakistani origin [Union of India v XXX & ors].

A Bench of Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice Syam Kumar VM allowed an appeal filed by the Central government against the order of single-judge who had directed granting Indian citizenship to the two minors without requiring a renunciation certificate from Pakistan.

The Division Bench clarified that India does not allow dual citizenship and under the Indian law, a foreign national can be granted citizenship only after renouncing the nationality of their existing country and this applies to both adults and minors.

"Unless they renounce the citizenship of Pakistan, the Citizenship Act 1955 does not grant citizenship to persons who are already citizens of another country, be it a major or a minor. The Citizenship Act of 1955 in India does not allow for dual citizenship. The laws do not make exceptions based on age (major or minor) or circumstance. For a person to be considered a citizen of India, they must be recognized as such by the Indian state alone, without any competing claims from another country's government. The formal renunciation process is the mechanism that ensures this legal clarity," the Court held.

Formal renunciation of Pakistani citizenship would ensure necessary legal clarity and prevent overlapping claims of nationalities by two countries, the Court added.

In this case, two minors along with their mother had applied for Indian Citizenship under Section 5(1)(f) of the Citizenship Act (citizenship by registration of persons of Indian origin or persons residing in India for 12 months).

Their father, who is currently employed in the United Arab Emirates, though born in Kerala, had migrated to Pakistan with his grandmother in 1977 and later acquired Pakistani citizenship.

In 2008, the mother and the kids moved to India with the Union government's permission, which was periodically extended allowing them to continue their stay.

They applied for citizenship in India and the Central government while processing their applications issued an order stating that the citizenship could be granted to the minor kids only after a certificate of renunciation of their Pakistani nationality was produced.

Challenging this requirement, the mother filed a writ petition the High Court, where she relied on the 'No Objection Certificates' (NOC) issued by the Pakistan High Commission in 2018, which stated that the authorities had no objection to the grant of Indian citizenship to the minors.

A single-judge of the High Court said that the renunciation certificate could not be treated as a substantive requirement and was only a matter of evidence. Hence, he directed the authorities to grant the minors citizenship after considering their applications.

Aggrieved by this direction, the Central government filed an appeal.

The Court rejected the single-judge's view and highlighted that under Section 14A of the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951, minors could not renounce citizenship on their own and Pakistani nationality would cease only after a renunciation certificate was granted to them.

Thus, it observed that surrendering passports or NOCs was insufficient, since the certificate was a substantive legal requirement for acquiring Indian citizenship.

"Even though all necessary formalities might have been completed, as per Section 14A, a Renunciation Certificate is mandatory, and it cannot be waived of stating that the documents produced are sufficient to show that Respondent Nos.2 and 3 have renounced their Pakistani citizenship and, as such, they still continue to be citizens of Pakistan," the Court said.

Hence, it allowed the appeal and permitted the authorities to reconsider the applications if and when the statutory requirements are met.

Senior panel counsel Mini Gopinath appeared for the Central government.

The applicants were represented by advocates M Sasindran.

Government pleader Sunil Kumar Kuriakose appeared for the State.

[Read Judgment]