The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to consider the request of two minors, whose mother is a former Pakistan citizen and father a native of Punjab, but both now holding the citizenship of Hong-Kong (Special Administrative Region, China), for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card.
The Consulate General of India had refused to entertain their application on the ground that their mother was a citizen of Pakistan.
“Even though the 2nd proviso to Section 7 (A) (1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, declares an ineligibility for a person to claim an Overseas Citizen of India card when any of parents/grandparents is or had been a citizen of Pakistan, Section 7 (A)(3) confers a discretion to the central govt to consider the case and pass an order whether to accept or to decline registration of a person as an overseas citizen of India,” Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj has observed while asking the ministry to consider the case within 12 weeks.
Obtaining the citizenship of Hong Kong, China, Paramdeep Singh Sran married Pakistani national, Nayer Zia, who was born in Hong Kong in Nov 1982, on April 23, 2005. She renounced her Pakistani citizenship in Oct 2006 and became a citizen of Hong Kong, China, on Oct 18, 2006.
Their children were born on March 2, 2007, and Feb 5, 2008.
