Pakistan: The Kerala High Court directed the Centre to grant Indian citizenship to two Pakistan-born women aged 21 and 24 without seeking renunciation certificates from the Pakistan government. While giving the direction, the Court said that the government cannot force the petitioners to produce renunciation certificates as they had come to India as minors and had submitted their Pakistani passports. The Court was hearing a plea by the petitioners who were not able to obtain renunciation certificates from the Pakistan government as they had migrated to India before attaining the age of 21 years as per the Pakistan Citizenship Rules. The petitioners faced trouble when the Central government refused to grant them Indian citizenship as they were unable to provide the renunciation certificate which is required under Indian rules. According to a report by Live Law, the order was passed by Justice TR Ravi, who directed the government to grant Indian citizenship to the petitioners on the basis of the No Objection Certificate issued by the Pakistan government.
The matter reached the Kerala High Court when the first petitioner-mother approached the Court requesting the Central Government to grant Indian citizenship to her 21-year-old daughters (second petitioner) and 24-year-old daughters (third petitioner). The mother also stated that her husband was born in Kannur district of Kerala and migrated to Pakistan at the age of nine with his grandmother. She further stated that her husband was working in the UAE and in 2008, her family migrated to India with the permission of the Government of India. The Court also observed that the Pakistan High Commission had issued a certificate of no objection to granting Indian nationality to the petitioners. It also noted that the petitioners had surrendered their Pakistani passports while still minors and hence they would be unable to travel to Pakistan.
