The Calcutta High Court has observed that documents such as Aadhaar cards, Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards and voter identity cards cannot be treated as conclusive proof of Indian citizenship.
The observation was made while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Suman Molla, who alleged that his nephew, Nasir, had been lodged in a detention camp after his name was removed from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal. According to the petitioner, the detention occurred despite an appeal against the deletion of Nasir’s name from the voters’ list still being pending.
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To support his claim that Nasir was an Indian citizen, the petitioner submitted several documents, including a voter identity card, Aadhaar card, PAN card issued by the Income Tax Department and a bank passbook.
However, a division bench comprising Justices Debangsu Basak and Ajay Kumar Gupta held that while such documents may serve as forms of identification, they do not constitute conclusive proof of Indian citizenship.
The court’s observations came in the course of hearing the petition and underscore the distinction between identity documents and legal proof of citizenship.
(This story is published from a syndicated feed)
