Ramesh still has German passport, Centre tells court

Hyderabad: The ministry of home affairs said senior BRS leader, Vemulawada former MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh possesses a valid German passport even now.The Centre told Telangana high court that not only Ramesh had got the German passport renewed till 2033 but also made three visits to Germany last year. Additional solicitor general B Narasimha Sarma informed this to Justice B Vijaysen Reddy, who was looking into questions that arose from a petition filed by Congress MLA Adi Srinivas.Srinivas wanted the authorities to look at the way Ramesh had re-acquired his Indian passport by suppressing facts relating to his German citizenship.Earlier, the judge directed the central government to furnish to the court the travel log of the BRS leader pertaining to the last one year. It was in this backdrop, the MHA furnished the travel record of Ramesh.Y Rama Rao, counsel for Ramesh, filed a memo before the court stating that the former MLA had relinquished his German citizenship. “But, he has a German passport which enables him to travel to Germany with the help of a visa. Citizenship and passport are different aspects and they need not be clubbed,” he argued.He said when the high court clearly asked the Centre to enquire into the issue under section 10(3) of the Citizenship Act last year, it had a reason to do so. “Because this section allows the Centre to deprive a person of his citizenship only if his stay in the country would disturb public peace. It can suspend a person’s citizenship only in such exceptional circumstances. But, unfortunately, the Centre did not do this work. It was hell bent upon depriving a legislator his rights without any valid reason,” he said. “We are only questioning the decision of the central government which suspended his Indian citizenship. If Ramesh is a German citizen, then why will he obtain a visa to go to Germany,” he asked.Senior counsel V Ravi Kiran Rao, who appeared for Srinivas, said one cannot acquire a German passport without being a citizen of that country. He reminded the court how the former MLA spoke about being ‘stateless’ till recently because he relinquished German citizenship on one hand and the MHA suspended his Indian citizenship on the other. “All these turned out to be incorrect claims now. The truth is that Ramesh today possesses both Indian and German passports and he has been travelling with the help of his German passport,” Kiran said. The judge reserved his judgment.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.