Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has questioned the Centre’s position that an Indian passport is primarily a travel document and not conclusive proof of citizenship, saying the clarification has created confusion among citizens. Reacting to the Ministry of External Affairs’ recent statement, Tharoor argued that the distinction may be legally valid but appears contradictory to the public, who undergo extensive police verification and document scrutiny before receiving a passport.The government has maintained that its position is not new, citing Section 20 of the Passports Act, 1967, which allows passports to be issued to non-citizens in exceptional public-interest cases. Officials stressed that an Indian passport has never legally served as definitive proof of citizenship.Tharoor, however, said that if a passport, obtained after rigorous verification, does not establish citizenship, it raises an obvious question about what document actually does. He called for a comprehensive legislative overhaul to remove ambiguity and simplify the verification process.The Congress leader proposed that both passports and Aadhaar cards should be recognised as conclusive proof of Indian citizenship unless they are explicitly cancelled or withdrawn by the government. He acknowledged that Aadhaar currently cannot fulfil that role because it is issued based on residence rather than nationality and is available to both citizens and certain non-citizen residents.To address this, Tharoor suggested that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) introduce a visually distinct Aadhaar card for non-citizens, allowing authorities to clearly differentiate between citizens and residents. According to him, such a system would eliminate bureaucratic confusion, streamline domestic identity verification, and provide greater legal certainty for Indian citizens.Meanwhile, the Centre has reiterated that the legal status of passports has remained unchanged for decades. Amid the ongoing debate, the Ministry of External Affairs has also notified revised passport fees, increasing the application cost for a fresh ordinary 36-page passport from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500.
SHASHI THAROOR QUESTIONS MEA’S STAND ON PASSPORT AS PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP
