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5. It is then alleged that in the year 2004 the Petitioner‟s husband came to India and on some pretext kidnapped the daughter Shabana Zia and took her away to Bangalore. The Petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition to get back the custody of her daughter.

6. The Petitioner complained to the Canadian Embassy about the illegal retention of her Canadian passport by her husband. In March 2005 she applied for the issuance of a duplicate Canadian passport. She approached the office of Foreigners Regional Registration Office (F.R.R.O) who advised that she should apply for the OCI status. It is further stated that on 18 th May 2005 she surrendered her Indian passport No. A 8000382 issued on 24th August 1999. The Petitioner applied for OCI registration on 22nd January 2007. She was granted OCI registration on 2nd February 2007.

7. According to the Petitioner, with a view to harassing her to try and get the custody of their minor daughter, her husband Javed Zia made false complaints to the MHA, as a result of which she received a show cause notice dated 31st January 2008. The show cause notice noted that in Column 18 of the application for grant of OCI registration the Petitioner had declared that she had never been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh. The show cause notice further noted that the Petitioner had renounced her Pakistani citizenship and surrendered her Pakistani Passport before the High Commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi on 19th February 1990. Thereafter, she acquired Indian citizenship on 10th September 1990. These facts had been concealed by her while applying for registration of OCI. She was, therefore, asked to submit her explanation as to why her OCI registration should not be cancelled under Section 7D (a) of the Act.

11. Consequent upon the above order, on 13th September 2008 the Petitioner made a representation to the MHA for restoration of her OCI registration. On 27th October 2008 she applied to the MHA to extend the regularization of her stay and visa. Her visa was extended on 19th November 2008.

12. On 12th December 2008 the impugned order came to be passed cancelling her OCI registration. Among the reasons given was that she had made a false statement in Column l8 of the application for OCI registration that she had never been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh whereas it was clear that even at the time of applying for the grant of Indian citizenship on 15th December 1987 she had declared her Pakistani nationality. It was concluded that although the Petitioner was a Person of Indian Origin („PIO‟) having been born in India, she could not be granted OCI registration since one of the conditions was that a PIO should never have been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh. It was accordingly held that there was no reason to vary the earlier order dated 13th June 2008 cancelling her OCI registration.

19. It is stated that it was only after the renunciation of her Pakistani citizenship, that the Petitioner came to be registered as an Indian citizen under Section 5 (1) (a) of the Act and was issued a registration certificate on 10th September 1990. The Respondent points out that after applying on 15 th December 1987 for being declared an Indian citizen, the Petitioner voluntarily applied for and was granted citizenship and the Pakistani passport bearing No. E812677 dated 15th November 1989 was issued to her which was thereafter cancelled on 19th February 1990. It is submitted that OCI registration was granted to her on 2nd February 2007 on the basis of the false statement made by her in Column 18 of the application made on 22 nd January 2007 for grant of registration of OCI that she had never been a citizen of Pakistan. The Petitioner was issued a show cause notice dated 31 st January 2008 to which she replied on 13th February 2008. She was given a personal hearing on 25th February 2008. It is only thereafter that the order dated 13th June 2008 cancelling her OCI registration came to be passed. Pursuant to the order dated 28th August 2008 of this Court she was given a full-fledged hearing on 19th and 24th September 2008. The Respondent by an order dated 12th December 2008 held that there was no ground made out for varying the order dated 13th June 2008.