A court in south India upheld the decision to revoke a former lawmaker’s citizenship and penalised him for concealing his foreign citizenship.
The Telangana High Court fined Chennamaneni Ramesh Rs 3,000,000 (£27,750) for hiding his German citizenship while serving four terms as a legislator in the state.
The court dismissed Mr Ramesh’s plea challenging the federal government’s cancellation of his Indian citizenship in 2019. It ruled that the home ministry had rightfully revoked his citizenship for concealing his dual nationality and for failing to provide evidence that he had renounced his German citizenship.
Justice B Vijaysen Reddy ordered Mr Ramesh to pay Rs 2,500,000 (£23,130) to Adi Srinivas, a sitting legislator of the Congress party, and Rs 500,000 (£4600) to the Telangana State Legal Services Authority.
Mr Srinivas is a longstanding political adversary of Mr Ramesh in the Vemulawada constituency of Telangana. He has contested many elections against Mr Ramesh since 2009 while challenging his eligibility to run because of his German citizenship.
The judge ruled on Monday that Mr Ramesh, 68, had failed to give proof of relinquishing his German citizenship and frequently travelled to the European country while he was a legislator.
Mr Ramesh, son of a prominent regional politician, has been with multiple parties, including the Telugu Desam Party and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.
He first applied for Indian citizenship in 2008, but was accused by Mr Srinivas of suppressing his dual citizenship since 2009.
Mr Ramesh repeatedly denied doing so.
“The Centre has long back declared Ramesh a non-Indian citizen. I am glad even the court has today held up the MHA orders,” Mr Srinivas was quoted as saying by ThePrint, referring to the federal home ministry.
“Apart from the fine imposed, there should be some action against him for misleading the system, courts and serving as MLA, for many years, breaking the rules.”
The ruling was a major victory for Mr Srinivas, who contested and lost multiple elections against Mr Ramesh before winning the Vemulawada seat in 2023.
“Ramesh claimed he relinquished German citizenship and that he would become stateless by the MHA order. The facts are the opposite, as presented by the central government,” Mr Srinivas’s counsel Rohit Rao said.
“He retained German citizenship all along, and renewed his passport periodically. He also applied for an OCI card in September 2019, which itself proves he is not an Indian citizen.”
The Overseas Citizen of India card is a long-term visa given to foreign nationals of Indian origin, enabling them to live, work and travel in India without requiring frequent visa renewals.
Former 4 terms MLA and BRS leader Chennamaneni Ramesh stripped of Indian citizenship by Telangana HC as he turns out to be a German citizen.
— n r surendranath (@surendranath48) December 10, 2024
The Court also imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh fine to him which includes Rs 25 lakh compensation to the petitioner Vemulawada MLA Adi Srini pic.twitter.com/s41Y17SHpW
Mr Ramesh pursued higher education in Germany and did his PhD from Humboldt University in 1987. He reportedly chose to settle in the country after completing his education and, according to The Times of India, became a naturalised citizen in 1993.
He worked, married and raised a family there.
Mr Ramesh was first elected as the legislator from Vemulawada in 2009 on a Telugu Desam Party ticket. He secured re-election in a 2010 byelection as a nominee of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, then known as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
He continued his winning streak in the 2014 and 2018 state elections, representing the same party.
Mr Srinivas entered the Vemulawada electoral race in 2009 as a Congress candidate but lost to Mr Ramesh by a margin of 1.5 per cent of the votes polled. In 2014, he contested as a BJP candidate and again lost to Mr Ramesh. He ran once more in 2018 but was defeated by Mr Ramesh.
Finally, in 2023, Mr Srinivas triumphed over Bharat Rashtra Samithi Chalimeda Laxmi Narasimha Rao to win the seat.
The Independent has reached out to Mr Ramesh for comment on the High Court’s ruling.
