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Showing contexts for: OCI in Naromattie Devi Ganpat vs Union Of India And 4 Others on 18 January, 2024Matching Fragments
13. He further submits that Section 3(2) of the Foreigners Act, 1946 empowers the Central Government to regulate the entry stay and departure of any foreigner in India. Further, the foreign nationals cannot claim visa services from the Central Government as a matter of right as per their convenience. The visa service is meant only for those foreign nationals who intend to arrive/stay/depart in/from India legally and follow Indian laws and rules.
14. With regard to petitioner's second relief regarding issuance of an OCI card, an online application was filed by the petitioner, vide reference no.INDD00365N21 dated 05.05.2021 in Foreigners Regional Registration Office, Delhi5,without uploading any documents, though the hard copy was sent with the FRRO, she could have scanned and enclosed to the office. FRRO had sent an email reply on 11.5.2021 intimating applicant that the OCI card registration service is temporarily suspended at FRRO, Delhi due to spread of COVID-19. She was also advised that in case of any query she could call on telephone number 011-26184824, thereafter, no further communication/correspondence was made by the petitioner and as such the said OCI application could not be processed further.
16. He further submitted that the documents furnished by the petitioner obtained by her from the archives of Guyana was not eligible for OCI card registration under Section 7A(1) or Section 7A(3) of the Act, 1955 read with Articles 5 and 8 of the Constitution of India, as descendants of Indian origin immigrants, who migrated as indentured labourers during British rule to Mauritius, Surinam, Netherlands and Reunion Island were only made eligible for OCI Card registration by granting special dispensation, with the approval of Ministry of Home under Section 7A(3) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 from time to time (whereby the documents of the archives of these countries can only be considered for OCI registration of their citizens). However, Indian immigrants of Guyana were not included in the special dispensation category. Therefore, the petitioner cannot be considered eligible for registration as OCI card holder on the basis of the documents obtained by her from the archives of Guyana. She is mandatorily required to submit a nativity certificate issued by the concerned District Magistrate and she cannot be granted any OCI card merely on the basis of documents obtained from the archives of Guyana. He further stated that in the absence of any nativity certificate from the concerned District Magistrate, her OCI application cannot be processed. An OCI card cannot be granted to any foreign national who is found not eligible for the issuance of the same.
31. The petitioner herein had applied for OCI Card initially as spouse but since she could not produce the earlier marriage annulment certificate of her husband, the application was initially rejected. However, she again moved an application for OCI Card on the account of being great grand child of Indian citizen who had immigrated to Guyana in 1882.
32. In the instant matter, the petitioner, who had applied for OCI Card, had given the proof that her great grandfather migrated from Allahabad and Jaunpur. These documents were taken from the National Archives of Guyana and were duly Apostilled, which goes to show that petitioner's great grandfather Ganesh had immigrated from India and another 'Apostille' document shows that her great grandmother Janki had immigrated to Guyana on 10th October, 1882. The parentage had been proved by further birth certificates by the petitioner filed along with the petition. Once the immigration of great grandparents of the petitioner is proved, there is no reason to disbelieve the said documents.
34. In response to this query, the petitioner approached Nagar Nigam, Allahabad for issuance of Nativity Certificate. Nagar Nigam, Allahabad replied that, they do not have the records prior to 1900, so they are not in a position to issue Nativity Certificate to the petitioner.
35. On one hand, the Government of India had amended the Act, 1955 and added Section 7(A) and also made Rules, 2009 in which anybody who is eligible can apply for OCI Card in Form XXVIII.
36. The petitioner herein had given sufficient evidence(by way of Apostille document taken from the National Archives of Guyana) about the great grandparents of petitioner, who had immigrated from India on 10th October, 1882. But since Nagar Nigam, Allahabad had not kept records prior to 1900, it cannot be taken against the petitioner. The respondents herein cannot reject the application of the petitioner on the ground that she is not able to procure the Nativity Certificate when the government authorities had themselves failed to maintain the same. The plain reading of the Act and the Rules clearly shows that, to apply for OCI Card, the applicant has to prove that his/her grandparents or great grandparents were of Indian origin. Here, the petitioner has successfully proved the same by filing Apostille document from the National Archives of Guyana. In the light of the same it is not open for the respondents to have rejected the OCI Card on the ground that the petitioner has not been able to produce the Nativity Certificate.