Khurshid Abdul Satar v State of Saurashtra [AIR 1953 Sau 37]
The petitioners claimed to be citizens of India, who had gone to visit Pakistan, stayed there for over six months and then returned to Saurashtra, India via a permanent permit. They were prosecuted under the Influx from West Pakistan (Control) Act 1949 on grounds of having forged permits and discharged. Meanwhile, certain permit form books were stolen from High Commissioner's Office, and the permit issued to the petitioners bore the form number of the stolen forms. Further there were discrepancies in the form. The petitioners instructed by the police to leave India. The court found the permits to appear to be forged due to the discrepancies. It was also held that the laws of the Dominion of India, even in the form of Ordinances apply to Saurashtra. The claim of citizenship was denied on the basis of Article 7 of the Constitution, which bars citizenship of Indians who had migrated to Pakistan and sought to return. Since there was no explanation of the duration of the petitioners' stay in Pakistan, and no circumstances out of their control in doing so, it was presumed that they were no longer citizens under Article 7.