A report submitted by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) to the Supreme Court may lead to an unprecedented development. A two-time Member of Legislative Assembly, Chennamaneni Ramesh of ruling TRS party in Telangana, is not an Indian citizen, according to MHA, which probed into the legal status of his citizenship as per the directions of the Supreme Court.
Though the public representative was given Indian citizenship in 2009, his political rival challenged the grant in court accusing the MLA of submitting fraud documents. The case has since been heard in High Court and Supreme Court.
Going by the report signed by joint secretary of MHA, it is understood that Ramesh did not fulfill the criteria of residing for one year in the country before submitting the application for Indian citizenship.
The legislator from Vemulawada migrated to Germany more than two decades ago and opted to become the citizen of the European country. However, he used to regularly visit his native place in Telangana and organise social activities. With an eye on 2009 assembly elections, he gave up his German passport and applied for Indian citizenship which was granted on February 3, 2009.
In a statement issued soon after news broke out regarding the contents of the MHA report, the MLA said that he will challenge the order as he did not resort to any illegal means to obtain citizenship. He further added that he has been serving the society for a long time and the accusations against him are false.
His lawyer, Venkateshwar Rao, said, “This is a terse order. The ministry has passed it without giving Mr Ramesh a notice or opportunity to present his argument. This is fundamental denial of justice. It was not passed on merits. We will file a review petition as there is a provision to appeal against an order within 30 days.”
Rao said that his client’s application for citizenship was submitted to the district collector as per the prescribed format of section 5 (1) (f) of Citizenship Act which does not make it mandatory for the applicant to stay for one year continuously in the country. “In February 25, 2009, the central government framed new rules because of which every applicant has to stay in India for one year continuously before filing an application. Mr Ramesh got Indian citizenship before new rules were brought in and the interpretation of the old rule regarding the period of stay was different.”
An upbeat Adi Srinivas, BJP leader, who challenged Ramesh’s citizenship in court, is now looking forward to a by-election. “In 2013, AP High Court had ruled that he is not an Indian citizen and disqualified him. Now, the ministry of home affairs too says that. These verdicts cannot be wrong. He has stayed in India only for 96 days and spent the rest of the time in Germany over a one-year period before submitting application for Indian citizenship. He is trying to point out some change in rules to defend his case which won’t help him. He is at fault.”
In case, the Supreme Court goes by the MHA report and cancels the citizenship of Ramesh, a by-election will be held.
So, what happens to Chennamaneni Ramesh in such a scenario?
“He will be stateless. Since all his documents including passport, Aadhaar and PAN card will be revoked, he cannot even travel to neighbouring countries,” said Rajiv Dhabhadkar, a visa policy researcher. “Mr Ramesh has to stay in India and restart documentation process. Before that, he has to file an application under OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) category and appeal to the Indian government to allow him to stay in the country for one year.”
