NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday issued a notification declaring that the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, which allows Indian-origin foreign nationals to visit India without any visa, would be cancelled if anyone is sentenced to jail for a term not less than two years or has been named in a charge sheet for an offence entailing punishment of imprisonment for seven years or more.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a Gazette Notification said, “In exercise of the powers conferred by the clause (da) of section 7D of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (57 of 1955), the central government hereby states that an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) registration shall be liable to get cancelled when a person has been sentenced to imprisonment for term of not less than two years or has been charge-sheeted for an offence entailing punishment of imprisonment for seven years or more.”
It is to be noted that the OCI scheme was introduced in August 2005 and it provides for registration as OCI of all persons of Indian origin, who were citizens of India on January 26, 1950 or thereafter or were eligible to become citizens of India on January 26, 1950 except who is or has been a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or such other country as the central government may by notification in the official gazette specify.