Citizenship row: Court relief for MLA Ramesh

HYDERABAD: In a respite for Vemulavada MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh, Justice S V Bhatt of the Hyderabad high court on Friday stayed for six weeks the order of the Union home ministry ruling that the MLA is not an Indian citizen.
The judge, while dealing with a petition filed by Ramesh, summoned the entire record pertaining to the citizenship tussle of the legislator and posted the case to January 24. The imbroglio began after Adi Srinivas, who unsuccessfully contested against Ramesh, filed a complaint stating that Ramesh was settled in Germany and applied for Indian citizenship only in 2008 for the purpose of contesting elections from Vemulavada.
Ramesh's counsel Y Rama Rao told the court that the Centre concluded its examination without following the principles of natural justice and wrongly denied him Indian citizenship despite him being a native of Karimnagar district and the son of a famous freedom fighter. Arguing the case on behalf of the Union government, Assistant Solicitor General (ASG) K Lakshman told the court that Ramesh obtained Indian citizenship by misrepresenting the facts. Citing Section 5(1) (F) of the Citizenship Act, the ASG said a person intending to acquire Indian citizenship needs to reside in the country continuously for 12 months preceding the date of his application.
In his February 3, 2008, application, Ramesh filled the relevant column stating that he was residing in India for the preceding 12 months. Later, it was found that he went back to Germany and that he had not resided in India continuously for 12 months as required.
"Ramesh sought an inquiry committee be set up to examine the issue, which we did. Even the committee concluded that he suppressed the facts and held that he was not a citizen of India when he contested the election," Lakshman said. Lakshman said this was the main reason the Centre denied him Indian citizenship and a review authority too had confirmed the Centre's decision.