Hannah Dominick vs Union Of India & Ors.

Court
Delhi High Court

$~44
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
rd
% Date of Decision: November 03 , 2026
# CNR No. DLHC010468282026
+ W.P.(C) 14385/2026 & CM APPL. 67456/2026, CM APPL.
67457/2026
HANNAH DOMINICK .....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Ramchandra Madan, Mr.
Ankur Tripathi, Mr. Tushar
Nigam and Mr. Himanshu
Yadav, Advocates.
versus
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. .....Respondents
Through: Ms. Avshreya Pratap Singh
Rudy, CGSC with Ms. Nyasa
Sharma and Mr. Abhinav Mall,
Advocates.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN
AMIT MAHAJAN, J. (Oral)
1. By the present petition, the petitioner essentially challenges the
revocation of her Indian Passport and seeks issuance of a Surrender
Certificate to enable the petitioner to apply for and obtain an Overseas
Citizen of India Card.
2. Briefly, it is the case of the petitioner that on 16.09.2025, while
the petitioner had attended a ceremony to acquire Irish Citizenship by
naturalisation, no certificate of Citizenship was issued to the
petitioner. In the meantime, the petitioner’s Indian Passport was
nearing expiry. It is the case of the petitioner that fearing the expiry of
Signature Not Verified
W.P.(C) 14385/2026 Page 1 of 4
Signed By:SANJAY
KUMAR
Signing Date:04.11.2026
21:02:03

her Indian Passport and having no certificate to evidence acquisition
of Irish Citizenship, the petitioner applied for renewal of her Indian
Passport and the same was issued to the petitioner on 06.10.2025.
3. Subsequently, in December 2025, the Irish authorities issued
the petitioner’s certificate of naturalisation dated 16.09.2025.
Thereafter, the petitioner approached the High Commission of India,
London on 22.05.2026 to surrender her Indian Passport and for
issuance of Surrender Certificate. Thereafter, a show cause notice
dated 02.06.2026 was issued to the petitioner alleging that the
petitioner had acquired Foreign Citizenship on 16.09.2025, that is,
prior to the issuance of the renewed passport on 06.10.2025 and the
petitioner suppressed the said fact while applying for renewal of
Indian Passport. Consequently, in the aftermath of the said
proceedings, the petitioner’s Indian passport was revoked and the
Surrender Certificate was also not issued to the petitioner.
4. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner had applied for
renewal of her passport prior to the issuance of the certificate of
naturalisation. It has been urged that while the petitioner attended the
ceremony for naturalisation on 16.09.2025, no certificate was issued
to her. It has been urged that the renewal application was preferred
under a genuine apprehension as the Petitioner’s Indian Passport was
set to expire on 02.05.2026 and the petitioner’s lawful immigration
status in the UK depended upon the possession of a valid passport. It
has further been emphasised that no naturalisation certificate was
issued to the petitioner at the time when the renewal application was
preferred by the petitioner.
Signature Not Verified
W.P.(C) 14385/2026 Page 2 of 4
Signed By:SANJAY
KUMAR
Signing Date:04.11.2026
21:02:03

5. On the other hand, the principal ground urged on behalf of the
respondent authorities is that the petitioner had already acquired Irish
Citizenship as is apparent from the Certificate dated 16.09.2025. It has
been urged that since the petitioner materially supressed that she had
already acquired Irish Citizenship at the time when the renewal
application was preferred, no surrender certificate ought to be issued
to the petitioner.
6. Having taken note of the rival contentions of the parties, from a
perusal of the record, it emerges that the petitioner has consistently
maintained that despite attending the naturalisation ceremony on
16.09.2025, the petitioner did not receive the Certificate of
naturalisation for several months. The contemporaneous email
communications placed on record sent to concerned authorities lend
some credence to the explanation furnished by the petitioner regarding
the delay in receipt of naturalisation certificate. It is also evident that
upon obtaining the requisite documentation, the petitioner approached
the authorities for Surrender of her Indian Passport and issuance of
Surrender Certificate.
7. While this Court does not intend to and is not stating that the
applicant ought not disclose all relevant information with
responsibility, however, the facts and circumstances of the present
case, including the explanation pertaining to delayed receipt of
naturalisation certificate, petitioner’s repeated correspondence with
the Irish authorities and her subsequent approach to the Indian
authorities to surrender her passport, cannot be disregarded. At the
very least, the material placed on record lends prima facie support to
Signature Not Verified
W.P.(C) 14385/2026 Page 3 of 4
Signed By:SANJAY
KUMAR
Signing Date:04.11.2026
21:02:03

the petitioner’s explanation that the circumstances in the present case
stemmed from a bona fide misunderstanding. Even considering that
there was some suppression on the part of the petitioner, the record
does not reveal any intentional act of suppression on the part of the
petitioner.
8. On a conspectus of such facts, this Court is of the considered
opinion that the withholding of Surrender Certificate of the petitioner
would not serve any purpose.
9. In the light of the aforesaid, the respondent authorities are
forthwith directed to issue the Surrender Certificate to the petitioner.
10. The present petition along with the pending applications stand
disposed of in the aforesaid terms.
AMIT MAHAJAN, J
NOVEMBER 3, 2026
DU
Signature Not Verified
W.P.(C) 14385/2026 Page 4 of 4
Signed By:SANJAY
KUMAR
Signing Date:04.11.2026
21:02:03