Voter ID, Aadhaar, PAN, Bank Account, Land Records Not Proof Of Citizenship: Calcutta High Court Upholds Detention Of Alleged Foreigner
The Calcutta High Court has held that documents such as a Voter Identity Card, Aadhaar Card, PAN Card, bank account records, land records and even the passport of a close relative do not, by themselves, constitute conclusive proof of Indian citizenship. The Court made the observation while dismissing a habeas corpus petition filed by a man claiming that his nephew had been illegally...
The Calcutta High Court has held that documents such as a Voter Identity Card, Aadhaar Card, PAN Card, bank account records, land records and even the passport of a close relative do not, by themselves, constitute conclusive proof of Indian citizenship.
The Court made the observation while dismissing a habeas corpus petition filed by a man claiming that his nephew had been illegally detained after being wrongly identified as a Bangladeshi national.
The petitioner contended that the detainee was an Indian citizen whose name had initially been kept "under adjudication" during the Special Intensive Review (SIR), 2026 of electoral rolls before being deleted.
He argued that an appeal against the deletion was still pending and that the authorities had detained the detainee without first deciding his citizenship claim. In support of the plea, reliance was placed on documents including the detainee's voter identity card, Aadhaar card, PAN card, bank records, land records of his ancestors and the passport of his paternal aunt.
Rejecting the contention, a Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta held that none of these documents conclusively established Indian citizenship.
The Bench observed, "Voter Identity Card is not a conclusive proof with regard to Indian Citizenship. It is evidence of enrolment of the detainee in the electoral roll." It further held that, "AADHAAR Card, cannot by itself be a conclusive proof of Indian citizen. So also a Permanent Account Number issued by the Income Tax Department. Opening of a Bank Account, by itself, again is not a proof of Indian citizenship."
The Court also found that the Record of Rights of the detainee's ancestors and the passport of his paternal aunt "do not establish conclusively the Indian citizenship of the detainee."
The Court reiterated that when the authorities allege that a detained person is a foreign national, "the onus is on the detainee to establish his or her nationality."
Since the petitioner failed to establish citizenship by birth, descent or registration under the Citizenship Act, 1955, the Bench declined to interfere with the detention order passed under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.
Case: SUMAN MOLLA VS THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ORS.
Case Number: WPA(H)/58/2026