HC issues notice on citizenship petition
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network
New Delhi, March 10 2014 :
The Delhi High Court today issued notice to the respondents, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Indian High Commission at Ottawa in Canada, following a writ petition filed by Luingam Luithui, his wife Peingamla Luithui, and members of the immediate family and clan, demanding the full restoration of the citizenship rights of Mr.Luithui and his wife who are originally from Ukhrul district of Manipur.
Newmai News Network was informed by Naga People's Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) this evening on this development.
Luingam Luithui, a founding member of the Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) and a senior civil rights activist, and his wife, have been living in virtual exile in Canada ever since 1995 .
This tragic violation of their fundamental rights is a direct result of unconstitutional acts and omissions of abuse of process, and of fraud and deception perpetrated by the Government of India, making it impossible for them to return to India, and forcing them to take Canadian citizenship after almost a decade of statelessness abroad.
Naga People's Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) welcomes this step by the High Court of Delhi.
The matter came up for hearing before the Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi, Hon'ble Mr.Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed, and Hon'ble Mr.Justice Siddharth Mridul.
The Petitioners were represented by Senior Advocate, Mr.M.S.Ganesh, assisted by Ms.Shomona Khanna, Mr..KSeshachary, and Ms.Sahana Basavapatna, Advocates.
The petition is about reclaiming the rightful citizenship of Mr.and Mrs.Luithui.
It seeks declaratory and substantive reliefs and prays for the enforcement of various constitutional, statutory citizenship rights and other allied fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India.
The petition also challenges the constitutional validity of provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and Passport Act, 1967 and accompanying rules, insofar as these empower the State to effectively exile and banish a citizen of India by birth through refusal or impounding of their passport or travel document and thereby preventing such citizen from returning to India and exercising their constitutional citizenship rights.
Aside from Mr.and Mrs.Luithui, twelve others forming their nuclear and extended families and members of the Luithui clan and other family elders, the Chairman of Langdang Phungcham, and the Pastor of Langdang Phungcham Baptist Church are also petitioners in the present writ.
They are also praying for the enforcement of their fundamental rights which are being violated by denying Mr.and Mrs.Luingam Luithui to return to the family and community.
Luingam Luithui has been involved from his youth in the formation of many mass-based platforms and has served in various human rights organisations.
A signatory to the letter petition that eventually resulted in the Supreme Court of India's judgment on Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in NPMHR v.Union of India (1998 2 SCC 109), his human rights work transcends borders and peoples.
During the Emergency period, as a student in Delhi he actively, along with others, worked for the rights of ordinary citizens.
In the latter part of the 1980s, recognising the need for an indigenous peoples' platform for Asia, he took the lead in setting up the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) eventually becoming its first Secretary General for two consecutive terms from 1992 till 2000 .
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