Pakistani National Moves Gujarat High Court Seeking Direction To Centre To Decide His Citizenship Request

A 50-year-old Pakistani national has approached the Gujarat High Court seeking direction to Central government and other authorities to consider and decide his application under the Citizenship Act 1955 seeking Indian Citizenship, pending since March last year despite fulfilling all legal formalities.The plea claims that due to pendency of his application, the petitioner, who is a qualified MBBS doctor and sonologist has been unable to register himself with the Medical Council of India and practice in the country, which is resulting in economic hardships for his family.When the matter was listed on July 10, Justice Niral R Mehta in his order said, "Learned advocate for the petitioners was not present when the matter was called out. Hence, in the interest of justice, stand over to 6.8.2025". The respondents in the matter are Union of India through Ministry of Home Affairs, State of Gujarat through Home Department, Collector and District Magistrate Ahmedabad.As per the petition, the petitioner was born in Pakistan to Pakistani parents and is the eldest of seven siblings, all of whom were also born in Pakistan. Over the period of time, all of his siblings, except one sister who married a Pakistani citizen and one brother who has not applied yet, have migrated to India and acquired Indian citizenship.The plea states that the petitioner first applied for Indian citizenship on August 20, 2016 after submitting a declaration renouncing his Pakistani citizenship under Section 141 of the Pakistani Citizenship Act, 1951. The declaration and computer proforma were submitted to the District Collector, Ahmedabad. The petitioner then received acceptance letter on July, 2017 based on his first application which was supported by reports from the State Intelligence Bureau and the FRO Special Branch, in accordance with the Rule 12(1) of the Citizenship Rules, 2009.Following this, the petitioner submitted his Pakistani Passport to the Indian Embassy and paid the prescribed fee of Rs 7,600 on January 2021. The plea states that the petitioner also paid the registration fee under Section 5(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and submitted the required documents including the receipt of renunciation of Pakistani nationality and challan. The plea further states, despite completing all formalities, the application was not processed. The petitioner then re-applied for the citizenship on October 2021; but despite clearing formalities as Central IB clearance was reportedly not recieved the citizenship was denied. In the meantime, the petitioner's wife was granted Indian citizenship in March 2022 and his daughter was granted Indian citizenship in October 2024. The petitioner submitted a letter on February 2024 to the District Magistrate and the Home Department requesting urgent action in his case. However, the response received from the District Magistrate on February 18, 2025 indicated that the Central IB report was either misplaced or not uploaded.The plea states that the petitioner had filed a plea before the high court last year but the high court permitted its withdrawal as there were procedural deficiencies permitting the petitioner to file afresh.The plea states that though authority to grant Indian citizenship rests with the Central government, but under the Citizenship Rules 2009, the District Collector is the appropriate authority to whom the application is required to be made, and the petitioner filed his documents before the authority. The plea thus seeks a direction to the respondent authorities to process and grant Indian citizenship to the petitioner under Section 6 of the citizenship Act. The matter is next listed on August 6. Case Title: Dr. Nanikraz Khanoomal Mukhi vs Union of India & Ors.Case Number: Special Civil Application No. 7163 of 2025Click Here To Read Order

Pakistani National Moves Gujarat High Court Seeking Direction To Centre To Decide His Citizenship Request

Lovina B Thakkar

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