Only Indian nationals can represent country in sports: top court

An Indian team should consist of only Indians. There is no doubt about it, Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan said. A three-judge bench comprising the CJI and Justices Deepak Verma and BS Chauhan,said foreign nationals of Indian origin or OCI,cannot,unlike NRIs,claim any right to represent India in international sporting events.

The observations came after Solicitor General (SG) Gopal Subramanium said this question of law must be settled because many international sporting events are immediately due.

The SG quoted government policy circulars of December 2008 and March 12,2009 sent to all national sports federations in the country,specifying that financial support from government is restricted to Indian nationals alone,the inclusion of players in national teams is restricted to Indian nationals only. In other words only Indian nationals are eligible to be part of the national team and walk under the Indian Flag.

Subramanium affirmed that though OCI status enables certain privileges,but it certainly does not in any manner make a person a citizen of India.

The Bench was on a preliminary hearing of a petition filed by the Union Government against a Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment of March 18,2010,according OCIs the same status as NRIs with regard to representing India in international sports events.

OCI not NRI

The court said that an OCI is different from an NRI who,though a resident of a foreign country,retains his or her Indian citizenship.

A 2003 amendment in the Indian Citizenship Act of 1955 introduces the OCI,but denies this category equality of opportunity in matters of public employment,among other rights.

The Punjab Benchs verdict came in the case of shotgun shooter Sohrab Singh Gill,an OCI,who was barred from representing the country in international events as part of the Indian contingent.

Gill,son of Punjab Director-General of Police P S Gill,was born in the United States but returned to India at the age of one. He was granted OCI status on April 4,2007,and went on to represent India in junior world events and won two medals at the Asian Championships in Kuwait in 2007.

The 23-year-old had won his case in the High Court by seeking refuge in a Home Ministry notification of April 11,2005 that overseas citizens are to be treated on par with NRIs in respect of economic,financial and educational matters. Gill contended that the expression education in the notification includes sports.

Education certainly does not mean participating in international competitive sport events, Subramanium said.

The High Court judgment has far-reaching ramifications on the entire sports policy of the Government of India and in particular with regard to the issue of non-nationals representing India in international sporting events, the SG submitted.

My client has been representing India for five years. He has been in this country since the age of one, said senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi,representing Gill.

There is no dual citizenship here. You are a citizen of another country. Why dont you opt for Indian citizenship? You cannot have both. Why did you not opt for Indian citizenship on attaining the age of majority? the court observed,while posting the case for further hearing on April 19.