A division bench of Justices A S Oka and M S Sanklecha was hearing a petition filed by Khan seeking direction to the government to deport him to PoK.
According to Khan, he had accidentally entered the Indian territory from his village Manshera in PoK when he was nine years old.
In his petition, Khan has claimed he approached the state CID with his grievance. However, a case was registered against him under the Passports Act for entering the country without valid passport.
On the last hearing, Maharashtra government informed the court that it had withdrawn the case registered against Khan as it considers PoK a part of India and hence Khan is an Indian citizen.
The court had then directed the central government to clarify its stand.
Additional solicitor general Kevic Setalvad today sought further time to seek instructions from the Union ministry. He, however, said that under the Citizenships Act determination of citizenship of a person is the sole preserve of the central government. "The petitioner can file an application before the appropriate Union ministry which shall consider it accordingly," Setalvad said.
The High Court said the petitioner should first clarify whether he is a citizen or India or Pakistan. "The petitioner and his wife shall file an affidavit clarifying their citizenship by October 9," the court directed.
