Born in Pakistan, son of Indian finally to get passport

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court recently directed the Centre to issue an Indian passport to a 28-year-old man who was born in Pakistan but brought up in India.
Naveed Malek, a resident of Bakrol village in Anand district in north Gujarat, was born to a Indo-Pak couple. His father Nazirmohammad, a businessman, is an Indian citizen. His mother is a Pakistani national who is living in India on a long-term visa (LTV) after her marriage.
Malek, who possesses all documents that an Indian citizen is entitled to, including an Aadhaar card, has been desperately trying for an Indian passport after he decided to go abroad for studies. He was denied the same citing he was born in Pakistan and his mother is a Pakistani national.
Malek first applied for a passport in December 2015 where the authorities did not take any decision on his application.
He moved the high court in 2017 and the HC directed the passport authorities to take a quick decision on his application. Things did not move ahead for another year.
Malek had to approach the HC again in December last. His advocate Anurag Rathor submitted before the court that Malek was born in 1991 in the Sindh region of Pakistan, where his mother had gone for delivery. In 1992-93, the woman travelled to India on a Pakistani passport with her infant son and ever since Malek has been living in India.
The lawyer cited section 4A of the Citizenship Act, which provides that a person acquires Indian citizenship if he or she is born before December 10, 1992, and either of the parent is a citizen of India at the time of birth.
‘Nothing against him to deny passport'
Justice A Y Kogje heard the case and observed that Malek’s birth certificate issued by local authority of government of Sindh in Pakistan, the passport issued in his favour while travelling to India with his mother and the memorandum of marriage between his parents--all evidences indicate that Malek fulfils the requirement of section 4A of the Act to be the citizen of India. There is nothing against him for the authority to deny him a passport.
The passport authority insisted that Malek should file another application for passport because a decision cannot be taken on his application filed in 2015. The high court on Friday asked Malek to file a fresh application and directed the passport authorities to issue a passport to him within two months thereafter.