High Court · 2025

Judgment

1. ) Merugu lshaan, S/o Korapala Ravali Priya, Age 06 years, Rep. by his GPA Korapala Venkataiah S/o K.Buchanna Aged about 62 years, Occ. Retd Employee, Rl/o.H.No.'10-01-9211121A, Lingojiguda, Janaki Enclave, Saroomagar, L.B Nagar, Ranga Reddy District. ...'ETITIONER The Union of lndia, Rep. by the Principal Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi. The Bureau of lmmigration (MHA), Government of lndia Rep. by The Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) Sardar Vallabhai Patel Bol OCR Complex Shamshabad-Pahadi Shareef Road, Near GMR Township, (CISF Residential Quarters) Mamidipally, Shamshabad, Telangana- 50121 8. ...RESPONDENTS

Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to I am filing this Writ Petition praying this Hon'ble Court for issuance of writ, order, or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus to declare the action of the 2nd respondent in rejecting the application vide REF NO. USAC045A5N24 filed for issuance of Overseas Citizen of lndia (OCl) Card by insisting the signature of the father of the minor child and to direct to issue OCI by considering the application filed by the mother of the minor child under special circumstances as envisaged under section 7A (3) of The Citizenship Act, 1955 and consequently direct the respondents to consider the application and issue OCI in favor of the minor child by name Merugu lshaan '7 lA NO: 1 OF 2025 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to direct the respondents to consider the application vide REF NO. USAC045A5N24 and grant OCI Card in favour of the grandson of the Petitioner by name Merugu lshaan forthwith Counsel for the Petitioner: SRl. SHASHANK GARIGE Counsel for the Respondents: SRI V.T. KALYAN The Court made the following: ORDER Y HONOURABLE SRI IUSTICE N.V.SHRAVAN KUMAR WRIT PETITION No.r1471 of 2025 ORDER: Heard learned counsc'l for the petitioner and V.T.Kalyan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondents. With the consent of the parties, the writ petition is being taken up for disposal at the admission stage itself.

2. This writ petition is filecl sceking the following prayer:- "to rleclnre tlr acttorr oJ- tle 2,a respondent in rejecting the application uide REF NO.USAC045A5N24 fled for issuance of Otterseas Citizen of lndin (OA) Cnrd by insisting the signature of the father of the ninor child nnd to direct to issue OCI by considering the apltlicntion fled by tlrc mother of the minor clild. under special ciratnstances ss entnsaged under section 7A (3) of The Citizenship Act, 1955 nnd consequently direct the respondents to considtr the application nnd issue OCI in fauor of the minor chiki by name MenLgu Islmmr."

3. Brief facts in this writ petition are that petitioner being a minor is represented by his GPA i.e., Sri.Korapala Venkataiah, who is his grand father. The case of the petitioncr is that on "15.02.2079, petitioner's mother and father got married and on 04.11.2019, they were blessed with a baby boy i.e., petitioner. Thereafter, petitioncr's father left for USA leaving the petitioner and his mother with Sri.Korapala Venkataiah and since then the petitioner,s father did not visit, hence, petitioner's mother filed a criminal complaint against her husbancl in Saroonagar Police Station and the same was numbered as CC.No.1517 of 2024 pending on the file of III Metropolitan Magistrate, Ranga Reddl,at i..lJ.Nagar. Petitioner from birth is suffering from ii2ii Autism and is unable to speak perfectly anrl partly dumb and because of huge amount of expenditure incurred against the treatment, petitioncrs mother filed M C No.249 of 2024, sceking Rs.91,t100/- Per morlth towards maintenancc of thc petitionel anrl M.C.No.18 of 2025 seekinp, tts.75,000/- per month towards maintenance of herself, before Farnily Court Ranga Reddy District. Petitioner father also filed HMOP No.]55 of 2023 and the same is pending on thc file o{ Senior Civil Juclge, Miryalaguda, Nalgonda District.

4. Further case is that earlier petitioner's mother hacl apptied for issuance of petitioner's passport to the US PassPort office and ihe same was issued arde passport bc.rring No.445415998, valid titl 01.12.2029. Pctitioner was also issued with ETz\ frrr E-Tourist Visa for 5 years by the Bureau of Imrnigration, Government ol India oida lD No.1041V1824921 dated 18.72.2024 with a condition "Matimum stay in lndin duing one cnlcndnr ycar (7't January to 37't Dect'tnber) on an E-Totrist Viso or Regular/Stickcr 1'ottist Visn or both, shall be restricted to 180 darls and nlso continuous stay.in lndia on each entry shoukl nol excetd to 180 day'."

5. White thir-rg stood thus, petitioner's mother throul;h online applied for grant of OCI Clard tnfu Ref No.USACO45A5N24 to the lrrdian Embassy and the same was fonvarded to respondent No.2. Thcreafter, rcspondent No.2 reiected the samc with the following remarks:- "1.The birth certifcate submitted is nrissing apostille. Kindly resend tlrc birth certifcnte uith oiginnl apostille. Y ::3:: 2.The parental Authorization Form ute receioed is unacceptable as it is missing fathel's signature. Kindly resent the form with both parents signahlre and notary."

6. Learned counsel for the petitioner has drawn attention of this Court to Section 7A (3) of The Citizenship Act, 1955, for ready reference the same is extracted hereundcr:- "(3) Notroithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the Central Gouernment may, if it is satisfied that special circumstancrs e st, after recording the circumstances in uihng, register a person as an Ot:erseas Citizen of India Cardholfur." Learned counsel further submits that since petitioner's parents are living separately, it is not possible for petitioner's mother to take signature of the petitioner's father and pray this Court to direct the respondent authorities to consider the case of the petitioner undcr Section 7 A (3) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and issue Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card

7. Learned counsel appearing for respondents has drawn attention of this Court to the Judgment dated 22.08.2024 passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No(s).48874888 of 20241. The said Civil Appeai was filed at the instance of Union of India, wherein the issue fell for consideration was whether the presence of the estranged husband is mandatory to process an application for Overseas Citizcn of India (OCI) Card under Section 7-A of the Citizenship Act, 1955? The respondent therein had filed the WP(C) No.10807 of 2020 in the High Court of Delhi for clispensing with the presence 12024 INSC 646 9\ ||4:: of the husband of tl-re respondent. The learned Single.ludgc dispensecl with the presencc oi the respondent husband and such view was alfirmed by the learned Divisicrn Bench under the impugned order <lated 25.03.2022. The Hon'ble Supreme Court oitlc Judgment dated 22.08.2024 allowed the Civil Appeal No(s).4887-4888 of 2024, relevant paragraphs are extracted hereunder:- " 17. Hauing considered tlrc process for oertfying tlLe genutneness, 70e are of thc ttrcru that the direction tssued in the impugned judgment to dispensc uith the presence of the applicant's spouse, hns no LegaL basis. Moreouer, apart from the physical/airtual presence of the spouse other conditiorts are also to be satisfed by an applicant as is proaided under the Citizenship Act L955, tl'ie checklist and the Visa MnnuaL for ruhich eoen n daclarntion by the husband may be necessnry. . ..

19. The Counsel for the Respondent attenrytecl to n.ake the subnission tlnt ths is a peculiar cnse uthere tht marriage is subsisting and the ruife lus becn abanrloned. In q case of estrangement, the applicat ruould falL undcr thc category of a'special circwrLstance' as the rules are siLent for suclt n category. In this regard, Section 7A(3) of tlrc Citizenship Act,195.1 u'ns brought to our notice: "(3) Notu,ithstanding anythng contatned in sub-section (1-), the Central Goaernment runy, if it is satisfed that special circuntstot'Lces exist, after recording the circumstances in toriting, register a person as an Ouerseas Citizen of lndia CardhoLder."

20. Noticitrg this special proaision, roe may obsente tlnt the present order zotll tlot come in the zuay of tlrc Central Goztentment to constder if any spetial circumstances e sts for consideration of the responfunt's nppLicahon and it ruill then be open for the respondtnt to mnke good her case, Horueuer, such discretion is entirely left to tlu CentraL Cotternment and u,e are not expressing any opinion on tuhetlrcr tle respondot drserttes such considerntion or not.

27. Wttlt tle aboae, the appeals are alLoued by irterfeing ruiLh tlrc impugned judgntents. Pending application(s), iJ nny, stand closed." ;:;.,ia,.rrat;,r. . :...t,:...i'r-. , ,1 ri l

8. In thc case on hand, it is pertinent to note that the petitioner from birth ::5:: is suffering with Autism and he is unable to speak perfectly and partly dumb and is under treatment and is under the supervision of his mother and grand father. Since, petitioner's parents are living separately, it is not possible for the petitioner's mother to obtain signature of the petitioner,s father in the form.

9. Having considered the above facts and in the said special circumstances, this Court deems it fit to dispose of the writ petition with a direction to respondent authorities to expedite the application of the petitioner by issuing notice to the petitioner's father seeking his authorization and pass order as expeditiously as possible, preferably, within a period of three (03) weeks from the Cate of receipt of copy of this order and communicate the same to petitioner. It is made clear that if the petitioner s father do not cooperate, at that stage, discretion is cntirely left to the Central Government to consider the case of the petitioner under special circumstance and pass appropriate order.

10. Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of. Miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending in this writ petition shall stand closed. No costs. //TRUE COPY// SD/. T. TIRUMALA DEVI AS IS NT REGISTRAR ECTION OFFICER To, ncipal Secretary, Union of lndia, Ministry of External Affairs, New 1 The Pri Delhi. 2. The Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) Bureau of lmmioration (MHA), Government of tndia ,The Sardar Vaildbhai patel Bot OCR Coirptex Shamshabad-Pahadi Shareef Road, Near GMR Township, (CISF Residbntial - QuartqF) Mamidipally, Shamshabad, Tetangana- 501216. ' 3. One CC to SRl. SHASHANK GARIGE ,Adv-ocate tOpUCl 4. One CC to SRl. V.T. KALYAN, Advocate tOpUCI 5. Two CD Copies ' BM GJP s ,, -;-.,,, Li.;.'r',..',- ;.rtl-=.*:;ra;':*:,. ;'----.,,-'"" ...--':*,.-.-- .'1-r:-t ---'--- - r' : r:j::4i..1.a-ir ! .., . - HIGH COURT DATED:1110312025 I I ORDER WP.No.4471 of 2025 ::. /i-. r i,r 2 s ilAH 216 z :, i'r. \. l) t '*<) DISPOSING OF THE WRIT PETITION WITHOUT COSTS a 3\r-