SYEDA AFSHAN RAHMAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AGGRIEVED by the impugned order dated 12th December 2008 passed by the Overseas Citizen of India ('OCI') Cell in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) (Foreigners Division), Government of India affirming an earlier order dated 13th June 2008 cancelling the Petitioner's OCI registration granted on 2nd February 2007 under Section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 ('Act'), the Petitioner has filed this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution.

(2.) THE averments in the writ petition are that the Petitioner was born in Patna on 13th June 1968 to Syed Kalimur Rahman and Naeema Bano. It is stated that the Petitioner's grandparents were permanent residents of Patna in Bihar. THE Petitioner's father Syed Kalimur Rahman was a Chemical Engineer working in the Government of India from 1965 onwards. It is stated that the Petitioner's father was posted at Chittagong in East Pakistan and he died during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. THE Petitioner's mother along with her elder son aged six years and the Petitioner who at that time was three years old, was unable to return to India. It is stated that in 1978 when the Petitioner's grandfather in Patna fell ill, the Petitioner's mother was issued a Pakistani passport on which she travelled to India. THE names of the children, including the Petitioner herein, who at that time were minor, were also endorsed on the said passport. It is asserted in the petition that as such, the Petitioner never opted for or obtained a Pakistani citizenship.

(3.) IT is then alleged that in the year 2004 the Petitioner's husband came to India and on some pretext kidnapped the daughter Shabana Zia and took her away to Bangalore. The Petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition to get back the custody of her daughter.