MARGAO: Stating that the birth registration of Goans in Portugal will not make them citizens of that country, Retd Justice Nelson Britto said that the Supreme Court will decide the fate of Goans.
He was speaking at a debate on ‘Does Registration of birth of Goans in Portugal invites loss of Indian Citizenship,” organised by the South Goa Advocates Association (SGAA) at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao recently.
Presiding over the debate as moderator, Britto gave an insight into the history of Goa during the 1961 era.
The panellists comprised of Adv Cleofato Coutinho, Adv Aires Rodrigues, Adv Radharao Gracias and Adv Rajiv Gomes.
Earlier, SGAA secretary Adv A Clovis da Costa said the main reason for organising the debate was to throw some light on the subject upon, which till date there was no final opinion.
Member of Parliament Shantaram Naik spoke about bill he introduced in the Rajya Sabha to amend the Citizens Act.
Adv Radharao Gracias said, “All Goans born before 1961 were already Portuguese citizens in view of their births being registered in Portugal and that subsequently after March 28, 1962 Indian citizenship was conferred upon them and therefore technically all Goans born before 1961 already possessed dual citizenship.” Adv Rajiv Gomes too supported Adv Gracias’ view. Adv Cleofato Coutinho opposed the above views on the ground that Goans were required to either renounce their Portuguese citizenship if they did not want the Indian citizenship within a period of one month of the citizenship order.
