AZIMUSSHAN HAIDER Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner assails the constitutional validity of Section 14 (1) of the citizenship Act and prays for a declaration to the effect that the power granted to the Central Government to impose "conditions and restrictions" under Section 5 (1) (b) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 is violative of Article 14 of the constitution of India. It also prays for a writ of certiorari quashing the decision of the Government of India declining citizenship to the petitioner.

(2.) THE petitioner is a Pakistani citizen and holds a Pakistani passport. He is presently residing in Kuwait. In May, 1992 he applied to the Indian embassy in Kuwait for registration as an Indian citizen. That application was forwarded by the Indian Embassy in Kuwait to the Home Ministry (Indian citizenship Section) at Delhi. The application inter alia stated that the petitioner was born in Motihari town, Distt. East Champaran of the State of bihar, and had left India 21 years before the date of the application in search of better job opportunities. The applicant lived in Dhaka and later in Karachi between 1961-1968 before shifting to Kuwait under a Pakistani passport issued at karachi on 4th October, 1977.

(3.) THE petitioner's case in the writ petition now is that he did not receive any reply from the Indian Embassy in Kuwait as to the fate of the application but when contacted, the embassy advised him to take up the matter directly with the Home Ministry of the Government of India, Delhi. A letter written by the petitioner on 7th August, 1988 pointed out certain fresh developments that had taken place during the time the application filed by him remained pending. The petitioner did not, however, receive any reply to the said letter also which was then followed by a representation dated 24th June, 1993 to the Minister of Home Affairs, Government of India. A copy of the representation was simultaneously sent to Sh. Tariq Anwar, former Member of parliament requesting him to forward his representation to the Ministry of Home affairs which was done by Sh. Anwar. The petitioner eventually received a communication from Sh. P. M. Sayeed, the then Minister of State for Home Affairs through Sh. Tariq Anwar stating that Section 5 (1) (b) of the Citizenship Act is applicable only to the stateless persons of Indian origin. Since, however, the petitioner was holding a Pakistani passport, he was not entitled to registration under the said provisions. The petitioner also received a letter dated 14th december, 1993 from the Indian Embassy in Kuwait informing him that his request for grant of Indian citizenship had not been accepted.