In a significant relief for students, the Gujarat High Court has ruled that a temporary stay outside the state due to a parent’s job transfer cannot be treated as a break in continuous residence for denying a domicile certificate.
The court observed that short-term relocation for family or educational reasons does not affect a person’s original domicile or long-term residency. The ruling is expected to benefit many students seeking admission under Gujarat’s local quota.
Justice Nirjar S. Desai directed the authorities to issue a domicile certificate to the petitioner, stating that temporary migration should not deprive students of their rightful benefits.
Student’s Domicile Rejected After Two-Year Stay in Chennai
The case was filed by student Komal Sansarchandra Chaubey, who had studied in Gujarat from nursery to Class 12. However, her family shifted to Chennai for two years after her father’s job transfer.
Later, while applying for medical admission through NEET, she sought a Gujarat domicile certificate to claim the state quota. The authorities rejected her application, saying she had not lived in Gujarat continuously for the required 10 years.
Court Relied on Earlier Judgments
The petitioner argued that she had spent 16 of her 18 years in Gujarat and that the two-year stay in Chennai was only because of her father’s transfer. She also cited previous Gujarat High Court rulings in similar cases involving Muskan Sunilkanth Tiwari (2018), Tilakkumar Vijaykumar Mishra (2024), and Aman Ramesh Panjiar (2025).
After considering the facts and earlier precedents, the High Court ruled in her favour and ordered the authorities to issue the domicile certificate.