SEJAL VIKRAMBHAI PATEL Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Common questions of law and fact have been raised in the present two petitions and it is, therefore, appropriate to decide both the petitions by a common judgment.

(2.) To appreciate the controversy in question, few relevant facts of Special Civil Application No. 6659 of 1992 may be stated : Petitioner Sejal Vikrambhai Patel has filed this petition for an appropriate writ, direction or order restraining the respondent authorities fron insisting the acquisition of Indian Citizenship by the petitioner as a condition precedent for getting an admission to Psysiotherapy Course and by directing them to admit the petitioner by treating her as a citizen of India. Prayer is also made to declare Rule 1.4 of the Rules for admission to the First M.B.B.S. Course at the Government Medical Colleges as arbitrary, unreasonable and violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Arts. 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. It is prayed that the order Annexure ''M" to the petition, dated Sept. 16, 1992 passed by Dean of B. J. Medical College, Ahmedabad be quashed and set aside being contrary to law. It is the case of the petitioner that her father Vikrambhai Patel was born in India at the time of commencement of the Constitution. Mother of the petitioner also resided in India at the time of commencement of the Constitution. Both of them were citizens of India when the petitioner was born. It is the case of the petitioner that her parents were staying in U.S.A. when she was born on 7/05/1974. Her parents, however, came back to India in or about Sept. 1980. It was the desire of petitioner's parents to provide education to the petitioner in India. Therefore, even-though the petitioner was born in U.S.A., she continuously resided and domiciled in India from Std. I to H.S.C. (Higher Secondary Certificate Examination). The petitioner studied at Mt. Carmel School and then at St. Xavier's High School at Ahmedabad. She obtained 85.3% marks in H.S.C. Examination in Science Stream. She was eligible for getting admission in Physiotherapy Course in B. J. Medical College, Ahmedabad and hence she filled in an admission form for that purpose. She was, however, asked to produce proof of acquiring Indian Citizenship as per Rule 1.4 of the Rules for Admission to the 1st MBBS/BDS/Physiotherapy Courses at the Government Medical Colleges (hereinafter referred to as "the Rules"). The said Rule reads as under :

(3.) Reading the above Rule, it becomes clear that if an applicant is born out of India and is not holding valid Indian Passport and/or holding citizenship other than Indian citizenship, he/she shall have to produce proof of submitting an application for acquiring Indian Citizenship to the competent authority before the date of interview. It is not disputed by the petitioner that she was born in U.S A. It is also not disputed that she is holding valid foreign passport. Column 6 of the application form relates to citizenship and an applicant is required to put figure (1) which relates to "Indian" citizenship" or figure (2) which relates to "others", namely; citizenship of any country other than India. It is an admitted fact that the petitioner at the time of filling up the form on 23/06/1992 has written (2) in column 6 of the application form which means that she was having citizenship of any country other than India. It is no doubt true that subsequently it appears to be the case of the petitioner that there was bona fide mistake on her part in putting figure (2) instead of figure (1) in the application form but I will deal with that aspect of the matter at an appropriate stage.