MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has told the central government to adopt a humanitarian approach in deciding the citizenship application of a Sri Lankan woman who is at the risk of getting separated from her Indian husband and children due to expiry of her Indian visa, based on which she had been staying with her family in Pudukkottai since 2019.
Observing that children are entitled to maternal love, Justice GR Swaminathan advised the central government to consider regularising her stay in India either by issuing her a travel document or by extending her visa, till she becomes eligible to seek Indian citizenship.
The judge made the observations on a petition filed by Fathima Riyasa, seeking direction to the state and central government to consider her citizenship application dated December 6, 2022.
Riyasa, who is a Sri Lankan citizen, fell in love with Abdul Jabar, and the two married in Sri Lanka in 2018. They settled in Pudukkottai district in Tamil Nadu and have two children.
After Riyasa's Indian visa and Sri Lankan passport expired, she applied for renewal of both, and also made an application seeking Indian citizenship. The Pudukkottai collector did not forward the application to the central government, following which she moved the high court in 2022. The central government, in its counter affidavit, stated that Riyasa's application cannot be considered as she is an illegal immigrant.
Hearing both sides, Justice Swaminathan pointed out that Riyasa did not enter India illegally. She had Sri Lankan passport and Indian visa and had come to India with the support of the documents. She became an illegal immigrant due to expiry of her visa, the judge opined.
He further observed that love transcends national boundaries and there is no statutory or constitutional requirement that marriage should be only between two citizens of same nationality. Right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution also includes right to marry a person of one's choice and to live with that person and this right applies to citizens and non-citizens alike, the judge further said.
Since the above right of the petitioner is at stake, to effect a balance, the judge invoked Section 5(1) (c) of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, which stated that a person not being an illegal migrant may be registered as an Indian citizen if he or she is married to a citizen of India and is ordinarily resident in India for seven years before making an application for registration.
Though Riyasa has not completed seven years of stay, Justice Swaminathan said the central government could approach the issue in a humanitarian angle and regularise her stay in India by either extending and validating her visa (after letting her renew her Lankan passport) or issuing her a travel document under Section 20 of the Passports Act, 1967, which empowers the central government to issue passport even to non-citizens in special cases.
Once she completes seven years of stay, Riyasa can make an application for Indian citizenship, which the central government can very well consider favourably thereafter, the judge added and disposed of the petition.