JUDGMENT

N. U. Beg, J. - This is a petition praying for a certificate under Article 133 (1) (c) of the Constitution of India in respect of an order passed by us on the 3rd of September, 1965, by which we summarily dismissed the writ petition of the petitioners under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The said writ petition was based on the allegation that the petitioners were Indian nationals, that they were residents of village Chaubepur, district Kanpur, and that they were domiciled in U.P. and were not foreigners. It was further alleged in the said writ petition that the petitioners had gone to Pakistan in March, 1955, and had tried to come back through the Indian Mission but since no proper help could be available they had to obtain the travelling documents from Pakistan. Thereafter, petitioner Nos. 1 and 2 i.e. Smt. Munni and Abdul Samad entered India on the 22nd of September, 1955. It was admitted in the writ petition as well as in this petition that a civil suit was filed by petitioners Nos. 1 and 2 i.e. Smt. Munni and Abdul Samad in the court of the Munsif South, Lucknow, for a declaration that they are Indian nationals and for an injunction restraining the Union of India and the U.P. Government from deporting them from India to Pakistan. In the said suit the case of the plaintiffs was that they had gone to Pakistan for the first time in the year 1955. On the other hand, the case of the defendants was that the plaintiffs had gone to Pakistan for the first time in the year 1948 and had thereby lost their Indian nationality with the result that they were not Indian citizens on the 26th of January, 1950. This suit was dismissed by the trial court. Dissatisfied with the judgment of the trial court the plaintiffs filed an appeal which was dismissed by the Civil Judge, Malihabad on the 22nd of January, 1964. Thereafter a second appeal (Second Civil Appeal No. 91 of 1964) was filed in this Court by the plaintiffs. This appeal was dismissed by the High Court on the 10th of July, 1964. It may be mentioned that in this suit the concurrent finding of fact arrived at by the lower courts as well as the finding of the High Court was that the plaintiffs had left India in 1948 and had acquired Pakistan nationality. As a result, they were not Indian citizens on the 26th of January, 1950. Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioners at length on the merits of the writ petition we were of opinion that there was no force in the Writ petition. We, accordingly, dismissed the said writ petition summarily. The petitioners thereafter filed this petition under Article 133(1) (c) of the Constitution of India.

2. Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioners we are of opinion that there is no force in this petition.

3. The contention of the learned counsel for .the petitioners before us is that the question as to whether the petitioners have lost Indian nationality or not must be decided by the Central Government. In this connection he has argued that the Civil court had no jurisdiction to decide the matter at all. The relevant section in regard .to this matter is Sec. 9 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (Act No. 57 of 1955), sub-Sec. (2) of which runs as follows:

"If any question arises as to whether, when or how any person has acquired the citizenship of another country, it shall be determined by such authority, in such manner, and having regard to such rules of evidence, as may be prescribed in this behalf."

4. Rules have been framed under this Act and the prescribed authority under the said provision of law is the Central Government. In our opinion, the crucial question to be determined in such cases is whether the person was an Indian citizen on the 26th of January, 1950. If he is found to be an Indian citizen on that date and there has been any change in his nationality thereafter, the matter would have to be decided by the Central Government. On the other hand, if it is found that the person has lost his Indian nationality p