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TMI Blog1965 (2) TMI 97X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Constitution as a person who had been ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than five years immediately preceding that date, was served with a notice dated July 17, 1957 informing him that as he had obtained Pakistan Passport No. 071377, dated April 1, 1953 he should leave India within one month from the date of service of the notice, and in default of compliance he would be prosecuted and deported from India under the Foreigners Act, 1946 as amended by the Foreigners Law (Amendment) Act, 1957. On August 19, 1957, the appellant applied to the Collector of Madras for registration as a citizen of India. Later he applied to the Central Government under S. 9 (2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 to determine the question whether he continued to remain a citizen of India, and prayed that he may be given an opportunity to produce all necessary evidence in support of his claim as regards Indian citizenship . Without affording him that opportunity, however, the Government of India by order, dated May 7, 1958 rejected the application of the appellant under s. 9 of the Citizenship Act. In support of his petition before the High Court for issue of a writ of mandamus, the a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ants to Pakistan. Article 8 deals with the rights of citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin residing outside India. Article 9 provides : No person shall be a citizen of India by virtue of article 5, or be deemed to be a citizen of India by virtue of article 6 or article 8, if he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any foreign State. Article 10 provides that every person who is or is deemed to be a citizen of India under any of the foregoing provisions shall, subject to the provisions of any law that may be made by Parliament, continue to be such citizen. By Art. 11 Parliament is authorised to make provision with respect to the acquisition and termination of citizenship and all other matters relating to citizenship. Article 367 cl. (3) defined a foreign State as any State other than India, but the President was by the proviso thereto authorised, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, to declare by order any State not to be a foreign State for such purposes as may be specified in the order. By a declaration made under the Constitution (Declaration as to foreign States) Order, 1950, it was declared that, subject to the provisions of any law ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ules referred to in Rule 30 (2). Clauses 1, 2 and 3 are material 1. Where it appears to the Central Government that a citizen of India has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any other country, it may require him to prove within such period as may be fixed by it in this behalf, that he has not voluntarily acquired the citizenship. of that country and the burden of proving that he has not so acquired such citizenship shall be on him. 2. For the purpose of determining any question relating to the acquisition by an Indian citizen of the citizenship of any other country, the Central Government may make such reference as it thinks fit in respect of that question or of any matter relating thereto, to its Embassy in that country or to the Government of that country and act on any report or information received in pursuance of such reference. 3. The fact that a citizen of India has obtained on any date a passport from the Government of any other country shall be conclusive proof of his having voluntarily acquired the citizenship of that country before that date. Acquisition of citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution was governed by Arts. 5, 6 and 7. If, however ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... zhar Ahmad Khan's case [1962] Supp. 3 S.C.R. 235 was followed by this Court in the Government of Andhra Pradesh v. Syed Mohd. Khan[1962] Supp. 3 S.C.R. 288. The question which survives for determination is whether the appellant ran challenge the validity of the order of the Commissioner of Police pursuant to the order made by the Central Government under s. 9 (2) of the Act on the plea that he had not voluntarily obtained a passport from the High Commissioner for Pakistan in India. In the petition as originally filed, the Union of India was not impleaded as a party-respondent and on the state of authorities then in force the appellant could not implead the Union of India as a party-respondent to the petition filed by him in the High Court of Madras. When this appeal was beard on December 7, 1964, notice was issued calling upon the Union to produce the orders and proceedings under S. 9(2) of the Citizenship Act relating to the case of the appellant. Pursuant to the direction the relevant proceedings and order have been produced and an affidavit has been filed by the Under Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is now common ground that in the inquiry contemplated by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Central Government that a citizen has voluntarily acquired foreign citizenship, casts the burden of proof upon the citizen to disprove such acquisition, and Paragraph 2 which authorises the Central Government to make enquiries for the purpose of determining the question raised, strongly support the view that the Central Government must arrive at a decision that the Indian citizen has voluntarily acquired foreign citizenship, before action can be taken against him on the footing that his citizenship is terminated. Paragraph 3 raises a conclusive presumption that a citizen of India who has obtained a passport from a foreign country on any date, has before that date voluntarily acquired citizenship of that other county. By the application of the rule in Paragraph 3 the authority must regard obtaining of a foreign passport on a particular date as conclusive proof that the Indian citizen has voluntarily acquired citizenship of another country before that date. But obtaining of a passport of a foreign country cannot in all cases merely mean receiving the passport. If a plea is raised by the citizen that he had not voluntarily obtained the passport, the citizen must be afforded an opport ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r to determine whether Indian citizenship is terminated upon the specified authority, and in exercising that power the authority is guided by the statutory rules of evidence. It would be impossible to hold that termination of Indian citizenship depends upon action of a foreign country in issuing the passport. We are therefore of the view that the High Court was in error in holding that the decision of the Government of India without giving an opportunity to the appellant to prove his case that he had been compelled by the police to obtain a passport from the High Commissioner for Pakistan will sustain the order of deportation against the appellant. It will of course be open to the Central Government to determine whether the appellant has lost the citizenship of India by voluntarily acquiring the citizenship of Pakistan by obtaining a passport from the High Commissioner, for Pakistan, or in any other manner. But the determination must be made in accordance with law. The appeal is allowed, and it is ordered that the order of deportation passed by the Commissioner of Police, Madras shall not be enforced until the Central Government determines the status of the appellant according t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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