Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, June 28: The High Court has vacated the 35 year old stay on deportation of wife and husband to Pakistan and dismissed their plea not to deport them to Pakistan and provide them citizenship of India.
The petitioner-Mohammad Kahlil Qazi born in Srinagar in 1945, belongs to a family of permanent residents and landholders of J&K State. His grandfather was issued a State subject certificate by His Highness Government of J&K vide order No. 111 of 1977.
During the partition of India, his father was doing business in Rawalpindi, Pakistan and due to the 1948 India-Pakistan war, the petitioner-Qazi, then a four-year-old child, was stranded in Pakistan. Neither he nor his family could return to Srinagar, leading to involuntary acquisition of Pakistani nationality due to compelling circumstances beyond his control.
Qazi and his wife along with their minor son arrived in India in 988 on 14 days short period visa on Pakistani Indian visas and subsequently on their request, they were granted three visa extensions of 30 days each up to 02.11.1988.
Thereafter, they requested for further extension of their stay in India, which was rejected and the Home Department subsequently, issued their Deportation Order No. Home/156/Visa/88 dated 13.09.1989.
Challenging the deportation by way of a writ petition in the year 1990 before the High Court and the court while granting interim relief stayed their deportation which was in force till now.
Senior Additional Advocate General Mohsin Qadri on behalf of Government submitted that the sequence of events along with the documentary proof placed on record by the petitioners clearly establishes that they have voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another country, as such, they have ceased to be citizens of India.
Advocate Qadri further argued that a representation by the petitioners for granting Indian nationality/citizenship to the MHA, Government of India clearly indicates that they themselves were fully aware of their status as a non-citizen in India and knowingly entered the country using LOC entry permit as a citizen of Pakistan and were staying illegally in India, as such, the act of deportation ordered by the Home Department is not illegal.
Justice Sindhu Sharma while accepting these arguments advance by the counsel representing the Government said, a citizen who voluntarily acquires citizenship of another country after commencement of the 1955 Act or between 26th January, 1950 and date of commencement of the 1955 Act, upon such acquisition, such citizenship automatically ceases to be citizen of India.
“Petitioner-Qazi ceased to be a citizen of India as he migrated to Pakistan and is a citizen of Pakistan. He has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of Pakistan after her marriage and their son is a citizen of Pakistan by birth. Therefore, immediately upon acquiring the citizenship of Pakistan, they cease to be citizens of India. Thus, voluntary acquisition of citizenship of another country by an Indian citizen results in the termination of his Indian citizenship”, Justice Sharma said.
The court said, admittedly, the petitioners are staying in India, Srinagar on the strength of the fact that the orders of deportation was stayed by this Court on 25.04.1990 and they have not placed on record any documentary proof of the fact that they had applied for the citizenship in terms of the Citizenship Act or Rules.
“There is thus, clear evidence to explain the fact that the petitioners on the strength of the passport of Pakistan and Visa, permission were granted to them to visit India. There is nothing on record to suggest that their request for grant of citizenship of India has been accepted. They are staying in India on the strength of Pakistani passports, the period of which has expired and after expiry of the extension of their stay they had to return to their country. In view of the aforementioned discussion, the instant petition is found to be without any merit and the same is, accordingly, dismissed”, the court concluded.
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