A child who was born to illegal immigrants in the UK of Indian origin, has been granted British citizenship by the Royal Court of Justice, after he was found not registered with the Indian authority.
The Times of India (TOI) reported that a Punjabi boy, who is little over 6 years old, was born in the UK, to an Indian 'Sharma' couple, who had overstayed in the UK after their students visa expired. After an 18-month-long legal battle, the decision on stateless applications in the UK has been allowed by the Royal Courts of Justice. Any child born on or after December 3, 2004, to Indian parents outside India, who has not been registered by the Indian authorities, was deemed stateless and entitled to be registered as a British citizen, according to law.
The application of the minor 'MK' (claimant) vs The Secretary of State for the Home Department (defendant) came up for hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice in February this year. It was the first of its kind application and was based on Paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the British Nationality Act 1981.
The parents of the applicant, who didn't want their first names to be revealed, reportedly said, "We are just glad that the Indian High Commission in the day (six years ago) treated us like trash. We were so hassled because we had come here as students and started living together. When we had our son, getting him registered with the high commission was so painful that we gave up on it. Now, the son, being stateless, is likely to work to our advantage."
