Supreme Court Issues Notice On US-Based Professor's Plea Challenging Law On Automatic Revocation Of Indian Citizenship After Acquiring Foreign One

The Supreme Court today issued notice on a plea challenging Section 9 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which provides for automatic termination of an individual's Indian citizenship upon voluntary acquisition of a foreign citizenship.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi passed the order and tagged the case with Dr Radhika Thappeta v. Union of India, where similar issue of OCI (Overseas Citizens of India) status revocation is pending consideration.

The bench also issued notice on an interim application filed by the petitioner, wherein it is prayed that he may not be required to renounce his Indian citizenship in order to obtain the foreign one. This was after the petitioner's counsel, Advocate Warisha Farasat, pointed out that in a similar petition, the Supreme Court granted leave that the party may not be required to renounce Indian citizenship as challenge to Section 9 is pending.

At the outset, Justice Kant had posed to Farasat, "You are an eminent person. But what grievance [is there]...if you are so keen for Indian citizenship, you surrender the foreign citizenship and get the Indian one". However, after hearing her, the bench was inclined to issue notice and listed the matter after 2 weeks.

Briefly put, the present petition is filed by one Sanjay Gundlagutta Reddy, an Economics professor of Indian origin who has been residing in New York for the past many years. Despite his residence abroad, he is stated to have retained his Indian citizenship.

The petitioner challenges Section 9(1) of the Citizenship Act, saying that it is arbitrary, disproportionate and violative of fundamental constitutional principles.

Highlighting the position of non-citizens across the world, including risk of deportation and limited rights, he contends that many Indians abroad face a “Hobson's choice” - that is, either they acquire the citizenship of their country of residence to ensure basic protections, or continue with Indian citizenship at great personal and professional cost.

In this backdrop, the petition calls for a reconsideration of India's citizenship framework. It has been filed through AoR Yashwant Singh.

Case Title: SANJAY GUNDLAGUTTA REDDY Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS., W.P.(C) No. 731/2025 

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