OCI Card And Booklet Should Be Taken As Identity Documents For Issuing Legal Heirship Certificate: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has held that Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card and booklet can be accepted by the authorities as valid identification documents for issuing Legal Heirship Certificate. Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy thus gave relief to a woman whose husband had passed away in March 2025. The court noted that the Government of India had clearly directed the State Governments to treat OCI registration booklets as their identification for any services rendered to him. The court noted that as per the Government order, wherever proof of residence was required, the Overseas Citizen of India may give an affidavit attested by a notary public stating that a particular address may be treated as their place of residence in India. “Therefore, the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card and the OCI booklet can also be taken as an identity document and the application can be considered,” the court said. The petitioner, Manel Amrithkala had approached the court seeking directions to the Egmore Taluk Tahsildar to process her application and issue legal heirship certificate in respect of her late husband. She submitted that the online portal was not accepting their application since they did not have Aadhar cards or other identity documents as per the government order. Stating that the Government of India had clarified that OCI card could be used as identity document, she urged the court to direct the authorities to process her application. On behalf of the authorities, it was submitted that her application was not considered since it was not uploaded online. Considering the clarification by the Government, the court directed the authorities to consider the physical application submitted by the petitioner, if the online portal did not accept the OCI documents. The court also asked the authorities to process the application within 4 weeks and asked the petitioner to appear before the authorities with necessary documents. Counsel for the Petitioners: Mr. V. Prakash, Senior Counsel for Mr. S. Gokul Counsel for the Respondents: Mr. R. Neelakandan, Additional Advocate General VIII assisted by Dr. S. Suriya Additional Government Pleader Case Title: Manel Amrithkala v. Government of Tamil Nadu and Others Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 178 Case No: W.P.No.14116 of 2025Click Here To Read/Download The Judgment

OCI Card And Booklet Should Be Taken As Identity Documents For Issuing Legal Heirship Certificate: Madras High Court

Upasana Sajeev

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