Denied passport over appearance, 2 Ambala sisters to get it in a week
Nitish Sharma
Tribune News Service
Ambala, December 31
Two sisters Heena and Santosh were refused passport by the regional passport authority on the grounds that their appearance was not like Indians. They were asked to prove their nationality even when they had all the necessary documents including Aadhaar, PAN, driving licence etc.
Citizenship Act provisions
The Citizenship Act, 1955 provides that every person born in India on or after January 26, 1950, but before July 1, 1987, shall have citizenship of India by birth.
For those born after July 1, 1987 and before the commencement of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, they will be Indian citizens by birth if either of their parents is an Indian citizen.
For those born after the commencement of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, the person will be considered citizen by birth if both his parents are Indian citizens or one of whose parents is an Indian citizen and the other one is not an illegal migrant at the time of his or her birth.
However, there is an exception which says that a person shall not be a citizen of India by virtue of birth if either of his parents possesses such immunity from suits and legal process as is accorded to an envoy of a foreign sovereign power accredited to the President of India.
The girls’ family, which has roots in Nepal, had been living in India for over 50 years. Their father, Bhagat Bahadur (54), was born in India.
As the girls looked Nepalese from their appearance, the regional passport authorities wanted them to prove their nationality. Taking cognisance of their complaint, Deputy Commissioner Ambala has directed the passport officials not to confuse this issue with the Citizenship Amendment Act and issue passports on the basis of “normal” documents required by any Indian citizen.
The Tribune had reported the matter ‘Struggling to prove nationality, 2 girls seek minister’s intervention’ on December 29.
Deputy Commissioner Ashok Sharma said, “The work of the employees at the passport office is to check the required documents and issue the passport accordingly. They shouldn’t mislead people on an issue related to the Citizenship Amendment Act. A city resident had apprised Home Minister Anil Vij about the issue. They have all the documents. In case, there is any amendment (to the procedure), then we will see. There is no change at present. The officials of the passport office have been directed to not spread any kind of confusion regarding this subject and continue providing passports as per the prescribed documents. The passport authorities will inquire as to why such an incident happened.”
Bhagat Bahadur (54), a resident of Ambala City, has claimed that he was born and brought up in Ambala. His father had come to Ambala from Nepal before Bhagat Bahadur’s birth and settled down here.
“I have four daughters (Meera, Santosh, Heena and Komal). Meera already possesses an Indian passport. Santosh, who is a fashion designer, wants to go abroad for a job. Heena has completed her Bachelors in Pharmacy and wants to do further studies in Canada. Hence, Santosh and Heena had applied for passport in June.”
Santosh said, “After intervention from the DC office, we were asked to reach the passport office today. There, we were told that the passports will be issued within a week. However at the same time, we were asked to write an application in this context and to mention that if any issue arises, we will be responsible for it. We have suffered a lot and appropriate action must be taken against them.”
