Domicile case: Gujarat reiterates that Indian citizenship a must

The state government on Thursday reiterated that Indian citizenship was a sine qua non for obtaining domicile certificate.

The state was arguing in a case in which students had challenged a government notification which had stated that only NRIs and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) could apply under NRI quota.

Students who have studied in Gujarat since Class 1 but are citizens of the UK and the US were denied domicile certificates citing that they were not Indian citizens. Further hearing in the case will be held on September 4, and the court has asked the counsel for the Ministry of Home Affairs to be present.

The state said that in this case the birthplace of the petitioner was the UK, hence she did not fulfill one of the important prerequisites for obtaining domicile certificate. The state government also apprised the court of the fact that until 2018-19, OCIs were not granted admission to medical courses, and this was the first time they were eligible to apply in Gujarat.

The counsel for the state said architecture, medicine and a few other fields of education were open for OCIs but they can only apply as Non Resident Indians in the NRI quota. The state argued that they cannot be permitted in the general category.

As to why it had made domicile certificate mandatory, the government said that medical education was highly subsidised with taxpayers' money. The state counsel said cases where parents are Indian citizens and the child is a citizen of some other country (born there), it could have been a result of either choice or exigency.