GOANS who obtained Portuguese nationality by registering their names in that country’s Central registry may lose Indian citizenship after a panel recommended action against them as per Indi- an law.
A committee, headed by additional secretary in India’s home ministry, BK Prasad, has recommend- ed the issue of citizenship of such persons should be decided as per the Citi- zenship Act 1955 and Cit- izenship rules 2009.
The panel was set up by the Indian government following a letter from then governor of Goa, BV Wanchoo, and then Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who said that around 400,000 Goans registered their names in Portugal’s Central regis- try of Births, Marriages and death.
Under Portuguese law, those who register their names in the Central reg- istry automatically be- come a Portuguese na- tional and a citizen of eu- ropean nations.
However, such a person is no longer an Indian cit- izen as per the Citizensh- ip Act 1955
There have been allega- tions that several public servants, including mem- bers of the legislative as- sembly (MlAs) and par- liament (MPs), have reg- istered their names in the Central registry..
Some have claimed that it was done without their knowledge
Portugal recognises du- al/multi-nationality while India does not..
