Meghalaya High Court
Shri Rabbe Alam vs State Of Meghalaya on 5 December, 2016
Author: S.R.Sen
Bench: S.R.Sen
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THE HIGH COURT OF MEGHALAYA
WP(C). No. 203 of 2016
1. Shri. Rabbe Alam,
Son of (L) Md. Raouf Hussain
of Assam Rifles Bazar,
Happy Valley, Shillong.
... Petitioner
-Versus-
1. The State of Meghalaya
Represented by its
Commissioner and Secretary, Home
Shillong.
2. The Deputy Commissioner,
East Khasi Hills, Shillong.
3. Smti. I. Majaw,
Additional Deputy Commissioner,
East Khasi Hills,
Shillong.
....Respondents
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE S.R.SEN
For the petitioner : Mr. A.S.Siddiqui, Adv.
For the respondents : Mr. K.Barua, GA.
Date of hearing : 05.12.2016
Date of Judgment : 05.12.2016
JUDGMENT AND ORDER (ORAL)
Heard Mr. A.S.Siddiqui, learned counsel on behalf of the petitioner as well as Mr. K.Barua, learned State counsel on behalf of the State respondents.
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2. The brief facts of the petitioner's case in a nutshell is that:
"The petitioner who hails from a very poor family decided to join para-military force after completing S.S.L.C. Examination in the year 2014 and accordingly submitted an application for issuance of Domicile Certificate alongwith relevant documents to the competent authority and as per procedure, the Petitioner's Application was sent for required verification and there was no adverse comment against the Petitioner, thereby giving rise to hope that the Petitioner would get the Domicile Certificate but to the surprise of the Petitioner, he was asked to submit the Election Photo Identity Card of his mother showing her as an electoral from Shillong Constituency but the Petitioner whose mother is originally from Bihar and is a voter there and comes to Shillong only for drawing family pension of Petitioner's father and producing of Election Photo Identity Card of his mother in Shillong is legally not possible but the Respondent No.2 refused to entertain the Application of the Petitioner on flimsy ground.
Hence this petition."
3. Learned counsel for petitioner submits that due to refusal or delay of granting domicile certificate by the Government, young people specially those who are seeking jobs are suffering immensely. He further submits that whenever anybody applies for a domicile certificate, they are asked to submit so many documents which are not at all necessary for granting the domicile certificate. He also pointed out that for collecting the domicile certificate, one needs to run hundred times to the Deputy Commissioner's office which is pure harassment, so necessary direction may be issued.
4. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State respondents, Mr. K.Barua submits that the Deputy Commissioner's office are trying their best to provide the domicile certificate to deserving applicants and has also set up E-Service. He also pointed out that Notification No. 3 POL.97/74/Pt-I/199 dated 4th September, 2013 issued by the Joint Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, Political Department mentions a set of standardized application form and certificate format to be filled up by the applicants which are at page 5 to 8 of the affidavit filed by the State respondents.
5. After hearing the submission advanced by the learned counsels for the parties and after going through the Notification No. POL.97/74/Pt-I/199 dated 4th September, 2013 and the application form and certificate format quoted above, I find that the Notification, application form and certificate format has not prescribed any rule or requirement to issue the domicile certificate. Moreover, the Notification No. POL.97/74/Pt-I/199 dated 4th September, 2013 is neither an Act nor a Rule, it is a mere executive order. Government has no business to issue domicile certificate only to those persons who are applying to the armed forces. I would like to ask the Government, "whether a person applying for domicile certificate does not have right to apply for any other civilian service?" The answer is definitely "yes they can apply for other civilian services too." However, since the reservation matter is not before me now, I am not going to discuss the matter elaborately. Since this Notification No. POL.97/74/Pt-I/199 dated 4th September, 2013 and the application form and certificate format is not in accordance with law, it needs to be set aside and accordingly I hereby set aside both the Notification No. POL.97/74/Pt-I/199 dated 4th September, 2013 as well 4 as the application form and the certificate format quoted above.
6. We all know that India is one country and one nation and every citizen of India has a right to settle or reside in any part of the country, nobody can deny that. In that sense a citizen is a domicile either by birth or by choice, however, one cannot hold two domicile certificates at a time. For eg., if a person comes from Mumbai and resides here for the last five years, he has got every right to apply for a domicile certificate, and it also applies to his children and other family members. Similarly, a person born at Kolkata is automatically a domicile of Kolkata and he can apply for it.
7. Now the question which remains before this Court is what are the documents required to issue a domicile certificate? Firstly, to determine whether a person have resided here for the last five years, the office of the Deputy Commissioner is to seek information or verification from the Superintendent of Police concerned and Superintendent of Police concerned should submit his report within three days. Secondly, besides the report from the Superintendent of Police, if a person has got any other educational qualification certificates or electricity bill or certificate from the owner of a residence if he is a tenant may be asked but this portion will not be mandatory. Primarily, a domicile certificate should be issued on the basis of the report of the Superintendent of Police of the district concerned. Whenever anybody applies for a domicile certificate the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police concerned 5 are directed to see that it should be hassle free and not make the applicant run like a beggar. Superintendent of Police should complete his report within three days from the date of requisition and thereafter the Deputy Commissioner's office will have to grant the domicile certificate within three days which means that the entire exercise should be completed within one week. If there is any violation, it will be amount to contempt of Court. However, if the applicant has got any criminal background, domicile certificate shall be rejected subject to the final order of the criminal Court.
8. With this observation and directions, this writ petition stands disposed of. The State is directed to strictly comply with this judgment and order with immediate effect.
JUDGE S.Rynjah