JUDGMENT

Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh J:

Introduction

[1] The applicant is 38 years old. He was bom on 24 February 1987. His birth certificate states that he is not a citizen. He brought these proceedings to quash part of the decision in letter dated 30 January 2024 issued by the Perak branch of the National Registration Department ("NRD") However, his real relief is that he is a citizen by operation of law pursuant to art 14(1)(b) read with s 1(b) or s 1(e) of Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution. The other reliefs are merely consequential to the main relief.

[2] On 19 May 2025, I dismissed the application with no order as to costs.

[3] For the sake of brevity, unless otherwise stated, all references in this judgment to "Articles" and "Second Schedule" are to that of the Federal Constitution. Similarly, and unless otherwise stated, any references to Part II or Part III are to that of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution.

The Facts

[4] On 2 March 2011, the informant of the applicant's birth, Pugialainthy a/l Ramachandran, submitted a Late Birth Registration Application. Based on the NRD's records and interviews are the following facts:

(i) the informant who submitted the application is the applicant's cousin and the nephew of the applicant's mother;

(ii) the reason for late registration was that the applicant's mother was uneducated and unaware of the registration process;

(iii) the applicant's birth allegedly took place at Ladang Escot, Ulu Bernam, Tanjung Malim, Perak, and was attended by a village midwife;

(iv) the applicant has a BCG vaccination scar on the shoulder and has never attended school;

(v) the applicant has a facial resemblance to the mother and sibling, Gunasegaran; and

(vi) the applicant's mother is a non-citizen, and the father's identity is unknown, and no marriage documents were provided.

[5] Based on interviews with the applicant's mother, informant, witnesses, and the applicant, the Late Birth Registration Application for the applicant was approved by on 24 May 2011 with a compound of RM50.00. The application was approved with the applicant's status as "Non-Citizen", father's details "Unknown", and mother's name as "Balamah", also stated as "Non-Citizen". As a result, on 27 May 2011, the NRD issued a birth certificate ("1st Birth Certificate") with the said details.

[6] Based on NRD's records and findings from investigation, the facts relating to the applicant's mother's citizenship are as follows: (a) Muniandy a/l Manikam, as an informant, submitted the Birth Registration Application for the applicant's mother; (b) it was claimed that Balamah was 66 years old; (c) the reason for late registration was because Balamah and her husband were unaware of the process; (d) Balamah was allegedly born in Kuala Lumpur in 1952 but lacked documentation, including prenatal or immunization records or BCG vaccination marks; (e) claimed to be the sixth child in the family and had never attended school; (f) during the interview on 14 February 2018, Balamah stated she was born in Hospital Tanjung Malim but could not recall her age and has four (4) siblings; statements from witness Parawathy a/p Kawarigondun ("Parawathy") were inconsistent regarding Balamah's place of birth; (g) witnesses Gengoo a/l Kesavan and Muniandy a/l Manikam provided conflicting testimony about Balamah's birthplace and number of siblings; (h) a DNA test confirmed Parawathy is Balamah's biological sister; (i) however, Balamah's birth could not be verified as there was no confirmation from the hospital or midwife; and (j) given the inconsistencies in witness testimonies, Jthe NRD approved Balamah's birth registration on 29 August 2019 with the status of citizenship as "Unknown").

[7] The NRD issued a birth certificate (Reg. No: 008419QA) to Balamah under s 12 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957 as her date of birth was accepted as 31 December 1952. Her citizenship status was "Not- Determined". The details of Balamah's mother w