The Bombay High Court has disallowed Indian citizenship claims of four illegal migrants who had entered into the country saying that passport, Aadhaar card or a birth certificate were not sufficient to establish their citizenship and that under the law it was necessary for them to prove that their parents were Indian nationals.
The order was delivered recently by Justice K U Chandiwal, who dismissed petitions filed by four persons who were prosecuted for being illegal migrants into the country.
"The birth certificate of one of the applicant Anwar, will not suffice as under the law it is imperative for such applicants to establish that his parents were Indian nationals. There is no such proof adduced before the learned (trial) judge," the court observed.
Under the citizenship laws, a person is an Indian by birth if he is born on or after 26th day of January, 1950, or before the 1st day of July, 1987. But if a person is born after July 1987, then he or she can claim citizenship only if either parent was an Indian national.
Those born in India on or after December 3, 2004, can claim citizenship by birth only if parents are Indians or if one parent is a citizen and the other is not an illegal immigrant at the time of birth.
In this case, the High Court upheld a trial court's order sentencing Anwar and three others to six months jail term for illegally entering India. A plea made by them to remand the matter back to trial court so that they could submit the required proof was also rejected by the High Court.
Justice Chandiwal said it was difficult to accept the argument of the applicants that the provisions of Citizenship by Birth under Citizenship Act, 1965, would not be applicable to them. The judge said there was nothing to suggest that the said Act has been turned to be ultra-vires to the Constitution.
"Survey of the above facts does not call for interference. Revision and application are dismissed", said the judge.
