Caitu's bid to 'oust' citizenship issue from court failsTNN | Jul 17, 2013, 04.45 AM IST0comments0inShareShare MoreAA Ads by GoogleREAD MORE Rajiv Gandhi PANAJI: In a significant order, the high court of Bombay at Goa recently dismissed an objection raised by Benaulim MLA Caetano "Caitu" Silva and allowed Valanka Alemao to produce a central government declaration stating that the MLA had ceased to be an Indian citizen on the date he filed his nomination for the assembly election in 2012.Alemao has relied upon a communication dated March 18, 2012, addressed to the external affairs minister and a communication by the private secretary to the external affairs minister dated February 2, 2012, which, according to Alemao, confirm that Silva was a Portuguese citizen since August 21, 2010.Silva, who contested on the Goa Vikas Party ticket had filed an application seeking rejection of a petition filed by Alemao, who he had defeated in the March 2012 election.Alemao stated in the petition that Silva got his birth registered in the civil registration office at Portugal on August 21, 2010, and as per that country's law, this amounts to acquisition of Portuguese citizenship and hence Silva could not contest the election.Dismissing Silva's application, Justice A P Lavande observed that even if it is held that the issue regarding citizenship is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the central government and the court has no jurisdiction to try the issue yet, Alemao must be given an opportunity to produce the central government declaration sating that Silva had ceased to be an Indian citizen at the time of filing his nomination.The high court observed that the petition filed against Silva on grounds that he was not an Indian citizen on the date of filing of the nomination, cannot be dismissed on the ground that it is only the central government which can decide the issue.Senior advocate S G Dessai, who appeared for Silva, contended that in terms of Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, the question as to whether a person has acquired the citizenship of another country, shall be determined by an authority prescribed under the law and, as such, the high court has no jurisdiction to decide on citizenship. Dessai stated that as per the Citizenship Act, Silva is an Indian citizen.On the other hand senior counsel J E Coelho Pereira, who appeared for Alemao, submitted that the high court has powers to decide any issue arising in the election petition, including the issue of citizenship.Passing the order, the high court said, "In the case of Bhagwati Prasad Dixit Gorewala vs Rajiv Gandhi, though the apex court held that the high court trying the election petition can declare Indian citizen as having acquired citizenship of foreign state only on the basis of declaration made by the central government, the apex court observed that if such a declaration made by the central government is produced before the high court trying the election petition, the high court has to give effect to it and if such a declaration is not forthcoming, the high court should proceed on the ground that the candidate concerned has not ceased to be Indian citizen".