A High Court in Bombay refused to grant emergency relief to a man who had acquired Belgian citizenship but did not renounce his Indian citizenship and traveled on an Indian passport.
“Innocent” Mistakes
Vikram Shah claimed that “hundreds of thousands” of people were doing this for not surrendering their Indian passports, later saying this was an “innocent mistake”.
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A subcommittee of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokale heard a petition filed by the Shah challenging the ban on entry into India and the seizure of Indian passports.
On March 14, the HC asked lawyer Rui Rodriguez, who is appearing in the Indian Commonwealth through the Ministry of Home Affairs, to respond to the petition within eight weeks.
The court said refusing to grant emergency relief, denying him entry and seizing his passport “cannot be said to be prima facie arbitrary.”
Hc acknowledged that the Shah had acquired Belgian citizenship, but noted that he had not renounced or renounced his Indian citizenship.
Destination used for travel on Indian passport doesn’t matter, court said
At a court hearing on March 14, he also admitted that he had traveled on an Indian passport after obtaining Belgian citizenship. It doesn’t matter,” the judge said.
Unhappy with his justification, HC said: I was told that this was a “silly mistake”. Both of these arguments are even slightly unconvincing for the purpose of interim relief. ”
“If, after obtaining Belgian citizenship, he still traveled somewhere with an Indian passport, it must have been a deliberate and conscious act and could have been a ‘mistake’ or ‘inadvertence’. No. This is clearly against the law,” the court added.
He then asked the court to immediately record his ‘abandonment’ (of an Indian civil vessel) and issue either a visa or an Indian Overseas Citizenship (‘OCI’) card to travel to India. .
The HC granted the petition after the Shah’s advocate Mohit Bhardwaj claimed there were legal issues with the Citizenship Act 1955, the Citizenship Regulations 2009 and the Constitution.
However, the Court had to prima facie convince the Court that the Shah, even after obtaining foreign citizenship, could still seek protection under the Indian Citizenship Act 1955 or any regulations made thereunder. revealed that there is
The judge also said there had been no violation of his rights under the Indian constitution, as the same is available only to Indian citizens.
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Published: Thursday, March 16, 2023, 7:57 PM IST
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