MARGAO: The NGO Goans for Goa (GFG) has criticised the State Government’s silence regarding the corrigendum issued by the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) before the High Court (HC) of Bombay at Goa.
This corrigendum, dated April 30, 2024, diluted the MEA’s earlier Office Memorandum (OM) dated April 4, 2024, which would have made it easier for individuals to obtain their Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) registration.
The April 4 OM had stated that surrender certificates would no longer be required, and revocation certificates would be accepted instead, removing a significant hurdle for applicants previously denied the required surrender certificates. However, the subsequent April 30 OM corrigendum clarified that this decision ‘is under consideration’ by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), casting doubt on the ability of individuals seeking OCI registration.
Last month, when the HC made a ruling based on the April 4 circular, the government’s counsel did not present the April 30 OM corrigendum, despite it being issued eight days before the petition was disposed of. Kennedy Afonso, GFG President, referred to this as a “suppression of material information” and a “serious violation amounting to contempt of court.”
It is to be noted that when the HC passed that order concerning petitions seeking OCI registration, the court had instructed the respondents, including the Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRRO), to consider the petitioners’ applications based on the April 4 OM issued by the MEA.
However, the uncertainty now arises as to what the MEA & MHA will do as the government had not submitted the April 30 OM corrigendum before the HC.
Against that backdrop, Afonso stated that the Government of India must honour its commitment made before the HC, accept the May 6 order, and issue a circular stating that it will be issuing OCI henceforth, resolving the matter for good.
Afonso also added that in the scenario where the MHA does not accept the HC order, then the government’s counsel should have presented the corrigendum in the HC before the June 2 deadline, so that the HC can review the matter and then pass a fresh judgment in order to provide relief to the affected people.
It may be recalled that Deputy Solicitor General of India Pravin Faldessai had informed O Heraldo that the government would find a way to go back to the High Court about the April 30 corrigendum issued by MEA.
Reacting to Faldessai’s statements to O Heraldo, one of the advocates for the petitioners pointed out that the MEA, being one of the respondents, should have updated the HC and had ample time to do so, as in the digital era, a physical copy was unnecessary, and the government’s counsel could have printed a digital copy of the corrigendum, which would have been accepted by the HC.
The advocate further highlighted that during the last hearing on the OCI matter, the HC did not go into the questions raised by the petitioners about the requirement of a surrender certificate in view of the April 4 office memorandum, which stated that revocation certificates would be issued and accepted by the government, enabling the applicant to obtain the OCI card.
It was also pointed out that if the Central government grants OCI only to these select petitioners who had approached the HC and based on the HC’s May 6 ruling, and simultaneously does not grant OCI to the remaining thousands of applications the FRRO has received from Goan-origin Portuguese citizens seeking OCI registration, then the matter would reach back square one due to the contradictory decisions of the Central government.
Clarity has also been sought on whether fresh instructions have been sent by the MEA, MHA, and the Regional Passport Officers (RPOs) on the OCI issue in view of the HC ruling.
