Land Records Not Proof Of Citizenship: Calcutta High Court In Plea Against Detention Of Person Suspected To Be Foreigner
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday granted a petitioner one final opportunity to produce documents establishing the Indian citizenship of a person detained as a foreign national, observing that land records, by themselves, do not constitute proof of Indian citizenship.A Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by...
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday granted a petitioner one final opportunity to produce documents establishing the Indian citizenship of a person detained as a foreign national, observing that land records, by themselves, do not constitute proof of Indian citizenship.
A Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a relative of the detainee challenging his detention as a foreign national.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner argued that the detainee is an Indian citizen and contended that the burden lies on the authorities to establish that he is a foreign national.
The State, however, opposed the plea. Appearing for the State, the learned Additional Government Pleader submitted that the detainee had himself confessed to being a foreign national. The Court also noted that the detainee is presently lodged in a detention home.
Questioning the petitioner, the Bench repeatedly asked counsel to point to any document on record conclusively establishing the detainee's Indian citizenship.
In response, the petitioner's counsel admitted that, apart from certain land records annexed to the writ petition, there was no document conclusively proving the detainee's citizenship.
Rejecting the contention that the land records could establish citizenship, the Bench observed that ownership of immovable property has no bearing on nationality.
The Court observed: "Land records... is not a document of proof of Indian citizenship." It further added: "A foreign national can buy a property in India. Merely because a foreign national buys an immovable property in India ipso facto does not make such purchaser an Indian citizenship."
However, instead of dismissing the petition at this stage, the Court decided to grant the petitioner one further opportunity to place material on record.
Accordingly, the Bench directed the petitioner to file an affidavit disclosing any document capable of establishing the detainee's Indian citizenship and listed the matter for further hearing on July 20, 2026.
Case: Suman Molla v. The State of West Bengal & Ors., WPA (H) 58 of 2026.