Citizenship Act, 1955; Section 7A- Iranian citizen (Wife) and is married to Indian Citizen (Husband) – She applied for Overseas Citizen of India(OCI) Card – Official insisted on the physical/virtual presence of her estranged spouse, who is admittedly an Indian citizen, for the purpose of processing her OCI card application – Allowing her writ petition, Delhi HC directed the Union of India to accept her Overseas Citizen of India(OCI) Card without the presence of her spouse as it is not mandatory u/Clause 21.2.5(vi) of Chapter 21 of the Visa Manual for personal interview to be conducted for the spouse by the Indian Mission/Post/FRRO- Issue in appeal before the Supreme Court was whether the presence of the estranged husband is mandatory to process an application for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card, under Section 7-A of the Citizenship Act, 1955? SC held as follows: The Central Government is empowered to register the foreign spouse of a citizen of India as an OCI holder “subject to such conditions, restrictions and manner as may be prescribed, on an application made in this behalf”- Section 7A(1) specifically notes that the registration of OCI Card by the Central Government is ‘subject to such conditions, restrictions and manner as may be prescribed’. Therefore, the Act clearly allows for supplementary procedures, such as an interview as specified in the Visa Manual as well as the Checklist – The presence of the spouse of the applicant either physically or through the virtual mode is mandatory for effective consideration of the application for an OCI Card – In a case of estrangement, the applicant would fall under the category of a ‘special circumstance’ as the rules are silent for such a category – The present order will not come in the way of the Central Government to consider if any special circumstances exists for consideration of the respondent’s application.