“Prayers pertaining to the parity of OCIs with Indian citizens and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) was already decided by Justice AS Bopanna recently.”
— SC Bench notice to Centre and the RBI
The Supreme Court has asked the Central Government and the Reserve Bank of India for responding to a plea which seeks to exempt resident Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) from the purview of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), reported indialegallive.com.
A bench comprising Justice KM Joseph and Justice B V Nagarathna has issued notice to the Centre and the RBI after finding and noting that prayers pertaining to the parity of OCIs with Indian citizens and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) was already decided by Justice AS Bopanna recently.
The petition was filed by the Association of Resident Overseas Citizens of India and Families along with one Dr Narayan Hulse, who stated that subjecting OCIs to FEMA norms when they have resided in the country for long and pay tax on their global income in India, was arbitrary and violative of the right to equality.
-
The petition stated that the impugned notification deprives Resident OCIs from enjoying those guarantees on the basis of which such Resident OCIs had adopted permanent domicile of India, thereby directly and substantially affecting the Resident OCIs’ financial and educational opportunities in this country
-
It also mentioned that the notification had the inevitable effect of depriving the Resident OCIs of their livelihood, their legitimate business and occupation.
As per the plea, exemption was sought under Regulation 2(d) of the 2018 Foreign Exchange Management (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property in India) Regulations, for resident OCIs who are permanently domiciled in the country. The provision mandates that Regulations would be applicable to OCIs.
Under Section 7(A) of 1955 Citizenship Act, the OCIs have been defined as a person residing outside India, but is registered as citizen in India and has not been given the citizenship.
As per the petitioners, the provision by making FEMA applicable to resident OCIs, keeps them away from enjoying the guarantees on the basis of which they took up domicile in India.
The petition stated that the impugned notification deprives Resident OCIs from enjoying those guarantees on the basis of which such Resident OCIs had adopted permanent domicile of India, thereby directly and substantially affecting the Resident OCIs’ financial and educational opportunities in this country.
It also mentioned that the notification had the inevitable effect of depriving the Resident OCIs of their livelihood, their legitimate business and occupation.
***************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com
