SOHAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner challenges the rejection of his application for issuance of a Domicile Certificate stating that the applicant and his parents were born and brought up in Kolkata. In view of the above rejection, the question that arises for consideration is whether the refusal to issue a Domicile Certificate to a person born outside Kerala is legally justifiable.

(2.) Petitioner was born on 18/8/2006 at Kolkata. His paternal grandfather belonged to Kozhikode District in Kerala, while his parents were both born and brought up in Kolkata, West Bengal. Petitioner claims that, after his birth, his parents shifted to Kozhikode in the year 2007 and permanently settled in their ancestral house at Naduvannur Village in Kozhikode District. Petitioner has pleaded that he commenced his schooling in the first standard at Little Flower Public School, Naduvannur, Kozhikode, and continued his studies from the second standard to the seventh standard at Vakayad A.U.P. School, Avitanallur, Kozhikode District, and thereafter, completed his tenth standard from Vakayad Higher Secondary School, Naduvannur, Kozhikode. Petitioner also claimed that he pursued his higher secondary course also at Avittanallur Government Higher Secondary School, Kozhikode.

(3.) In support of the above contentions, petitioner has produced his Secondary School Leaving Certificate as well as his Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate as Ext.P3 and Ext.P4 respectively. Further, petitioner's father is stated to have died in Kerala on 4/10/2022, as evident from Ext.P5 death certificate issued by the Kozhikode Corporation. Petitioner claims that he was issued with an Aadhar Card in the year 2013 where his permanent residence is shown as Kozhikode. Thus, petitioner asserted that though he was born in Kolkata, soon thereafter he had shifted his residence to Kerala and has been permanently residing in Kozhikode with his schooling done entirely in the State of Kerala. According to him, his domicile is in Kerala and he needs a certificate of domicile urgently, as he has applied to the post of Agniveer (General Category) in the Indian Army and a Domicile Certificate is essential to process his application. Despite all factors favouring him, his application for the Domicile Certificate was rejected by Ext.P8 stating that he was born in Kolkata and was even brought up there.