Hindu Tamils were victims of racial strife in Sri Lanka, CAA should be applicable to them: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently opined that Hindu Tamils, being the primary victims of racial strife in Sri Lanka, ought to be covered by the principles of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which provides an opportunity for persecuted minorities from neighbouring nations to become Indian citizens [S Abirami v. Union of India and others]..Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai Bench was hearing a writ petition filed by a 29-year-old woman born in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu to Sri Lankan immigrant parents, seeking a direction to the District Collector, Tiruchirappalli to forward her application for Indian citizenship to State government authorities. The judgment stated,"The Parliament has recently amended the Citizenship Act. The persecuted minorities from the immediate neighbourhood such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh now have an opportunity of getting Indian Citizenship. Though Srilanka does not fall within the said amendment, the very same principle is equally applicable. One can take judicial notice of the fact that the Hindu Tamils of Srilanka were the primary victims of the racial strife. Though the Central Government has to take a call in the matter, there cannot be any impediment for considering the writ petitioner's request.".The Court noted that Abirami was born in India and had lived in the country all her life. She went to school in Tiruchirappalli and also holds an Aadhaar card. She did not hold Sri Lankan citizenship, and if she was denied Indian citizenship, she will be rendered stateless, it was highlighted. It was further stated that Abirami's parents had come to India in the 1990s as they could not continue living in Sri Lanka "on account of the ethnic strife." "In the case in hand, though the petitioner is a descendant of migrant parents, she was born in India. She has never been a Srilankan citizen and therefore the question of renouncing the same does not arise. If the petitioner's request is not granted, that would lead to her statelessness. That is the situation which has to be avoided," the Court said. .In this light, the Court said that the State government and the district authorities should have forwarded Abirami's application for Indian citizenship to the Central government. It thus directed the District Collector to send Abirami's application to the State government, which in turn was directed to forward it to the Centre. Justice Swaminathan directed the Centre to decide on the matter within sixteen weeks. .Advocate Srikanth of M/s APN Law Associates appeared for the petitioner.Assistant Solicitor General L Victoria Gowri and Additional Government Pleader M Sarangan appeared for the respondents..[Read judgment]