IMPORTANT POINT
The main legal point established in the judgment is that Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) are not entitled to represent India in international events, including the International Mathematical Olympiads, as per the decisions in Raghuram v. Union of India & Ors and G. Venkatesh v. Bridge Federation of India.

JUDGMENT (Oral)

C. HARI SHANKAR, J.

1. The petitioner is an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI). She desires to participate in the Asia Pacific Math Olympiad (APMO), the European Girls Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO) and the International Mathematical Olympiads (IMO) which are scheduled to be held from 11 April 2024 to 17 April 2024.

2. The petitioner is aggrieved by the following notice which has been published on the website of the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science and Education (HBCSE), which conducts the preliminary rounds of selection, under the aegis of the Department of Atomic Energy, to decide on the candidates to be sent to represent India in international Maths Olympiads:

"As per the orders of the Madras High Court, students with OCI status will not be eligible for selection to the Indian team in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO), Asian Pacific Mathematical Olympiad (APMO). However, such students are provisionally eligible for selection at ALL prior stages, up to and including the International Mathematical Olympiad Training Camp (IMOTC) and European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad Training Camp (EGMOTC) provided they fulfil all other criteria. They are also provisionally eligible to write the selection tests at the IMOTC and EGMOTC. This policy is subject to revision without prior notice depending on any further orders issued by the courts, or by a competent Government authority"

3. The petitioner, as noted, is an OCI. An Overseas Citizen of India is, despite the somewhat confusing nomenclature, not an Indian Citizen. OCI status is conferred in terms of Section 7A of The Citizenship Act 1955, which reads thus:

"7A. Registration of Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder. -

(1) The Central Government may, subject to such conditions, restrictions and manner as may be prescribed, on an application made in this behalf, register as an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder-

(a) any person of full age and capacity,

(i) who is a citizen of another country, but was a citizen of India at the time of, or at any time after, the commencement of the Constitution; or

(ii) who is a citizen of another country, but was eligible to become a citizen of India at the time of the commencement of the Constitution; or

(iii) who is a citizen of another country, but belonged to a territory that became part of India after the 15th day of August, 1947; or

(iv) who is a child or a grandchild or a great grandchild of such a citizen;"

4. The petitioner is in fact a citizen of the US and holds a US passport. She has no Indian passport.

5. The petitioner is aggrieved by the denial, to OCIs, of the chance of participating in the aforenoted International Mathematical Olympiads on behalf of India, merely because she happens to be an OCI.

6. Mr. Vedansh Anand, learned Counsel for the respondent pointed out that the participation in the International Mathematical Olympiads is only the final culmination of a five-stage procedure which starts with the candidates qualifying in the Indian Olympiad Qualifier in Mathematics, 2023 ("the IOQM-2023").

7. He has drawn my attention to the guidelines governing the eligibility of students to write the IOQM-2023 which were brought out in October 2022. The said guidelines have been placed on record by the respondent with the counter affidavit. Insofar as the eligibility of OCI candidates to write the IOQM-2023 is concerned, Clause 2 of the Eligibility criteria reads thus:

"2. The students must be eligible to hold Indian passport. Provisionally, students with OCI cards are eligible to write the IOQM 2023 subject to conditions as explained below:

As per the orders of the Madras High Court, students with OCI status will not be eligible for selection to the Indian team in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO), Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO). However, such students are provisionally eligible for selection at ALL prior stages, up to and