Madras High Court orders issuance of nativity certificate to boy who studied only from classes 6 to 10 in Tamil Nadu

The Madras High Court has directed a Zonal Deputy Tahsildar at Perambur in Chennai to issue a nativity certificate to a 17-year-old boy, who had pursued classes 6 to 10 in Chennai but had completed the rest of his schooling in other States, so that he could pursue a medical course in Tamil Nadu.

The Madras High Court has directed a Zonal Deputy Tahsildar at Perambur in Chennai to issue a nativity certificate to a 17-year-old boy, who had pursued classes 6 to 10 in Chennai but had completed the rest of his schooling in other States, so that he could pursue a medical course in Tamil Nadu.

Justice Anita Sumanth agreed with advocate Chevanan Mohan that the student could not be denied a nativity certificate in Tamil Nadu just because he was born in Maharashtra and pursued his higher secondary education in Uttar Pradesh. His father is a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) employee.

The counsel brought it to the notice of the court that the minor boy’s parents were Tamils who were born and brought up in Tamil Nadu. He also said, their permanent address was an ancestral home in Vysarpadi in Chennai where the boy’s paternal mother grandmother still resides.

Despite this, the Tahsildar had rejected multiple applications filed for a nativity certificate by citing the birth of the boy in Mumbai, the counsel complained. On the other hand, a government advocate told the court that the boy’s last application had only been returned and not rejected.

However, the judge rejected this “lukewarm” submission and said, the Tahsildar’s orders clearly prove that the applications had been rejected just because the applicant was born in Maharashtra. She said, a 1990 Government Order requires only five years of continuous study in Tamil Nadu for issuance of nativity certificate.

Though the boy had pursued his higher secondary education in Kanpur, he would be entitled to obtain a nativity certificate in Tamil Nadu after filing an affidavit that he would not claim nativity either in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, the judge said and ordered issuance of the certificate to him within a week.