Ravi Menon is an Indian citizen who is a non-resident for income-tax purposes and lives in Dubai. He…

Section 3(2)(b) places a citizen of India who is a non-resident within the class that needs NBA approval, and section 3(1) requires "previous approval of the National Biodiversity Authority" for obtaining a biological resource for commercial utilisation. Prior intimation to the State Board under section 7 is only for persons outside section 3(2). A certificate of origin from the Biodiversity Management Committee under section 7(2) serves only the section 7 exemption for cultivated medicinal plants and never replaces NBA approval. Citizenship alone does not take him outside the Act.