E-Paper
‘Sort out Supriya Sule’s nationality tangle soon’
The citizenship of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s daughter, Supriya Sule, is in question again.The Bombay High Court has given the Centre three months to decide on an application seeking the cancellation of her Indian citizenship. Kanchan Chaudhari reports.
The citizenship of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s daughter, Supriya Sule, is in question again.
The Bombay High Court has given the Centre three months to decide on an application seeking the cancellation of her Indian citizenship.
Mrinalini Kakade, who had contested the 2009 Parliamentary election from Baramati, had on June 22, 2009, filed an application seeking that Sule’s Indian citizenship be cancelled.
Kakade had contended that the NCP Member of Parliament had renounced it and accepted citizenship of Singapore.
The application stated that Sule had purchased immovable property in Singapore and was also on the Board of Directors of a private Singapore firm, Jaguna International. Kakade had argued that under Singaporean law a person cannot acquire property in the country unless he or she is a citizen.
Kakade said Sule had declared that she was a Singaporean national in documents pertaining to Jaguna International, and that she had also cited her Singaporean Permanent Resident Number, S -69726251.
Kakade had initially found that her application had landed up in the Pune Collector’s office after the Centre had forwarded it to the state for necessary action. In July 2010, she shot a letter to the central government reminding them of the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which required that an inquiry be made with the Consulate General of the country in question.
Kakade moved the high court in April 2010 after Central authorities told her no action could be taken on her application unless a discreet inquiry was conducted by an investigating agency of the State.
Kakade’s lawyer V.N. Parshurami expressed apprehension that the inquiry may not be conducted properly since Sule’s father was a very influential politician.
A division bench of Justice D.D. Sinha and Justice Mridula Bhatkar directed the Centre to complete the inquiry on Kakade’s application within three months according to the provisions of the Citizenship Act.
