Can Voter ID, Aadhaar or PAN Prove Citizenship? Calcutta High Court Says No

The Calcutta High Court has ruled that voter identity cards, Aadhaar and PAN cards do not amount to conclusive proof of Indian citizenship, while dismissing a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of a man lodged in a detention camp after his name was struck off the electoral rolls during West Bengal's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The petition was filed by Suman Molla, who claimed that his nephew, Nasir, had been wrongly detained even as an appeal against the deletion of his name from the voter list was still pending.

The Petitioner's Claim

Molla had relied on Nasir's voter identity card, Aadhaar card, a PAN card issued by the Income Tax Department, and a bank passbook to argue that his nephew was an Indian citizen and not a foreign national.

A division bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Ajay Kumar Gupta rejected this line of argument, holding that a voter identity card only establishes that a person was enrolled in the electoral rolls, nothing more. The bench noted that Nasir's name had in fact been deleted from the rolls during the 2026 SIR process. Which Documents Actually Prove Indian Citizenship Now That Passports Don’t?

Court Says Bank Account Not Proof Either

The bench further held that merely opening a bank account does not, by itself, establish Indian citizenship.

"Writ petitioner and the detainee are unable to discharge the burden of proof as mandated by the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025," the court observed.

Holding that neither Molla nor Nasir had succeeded in establishing the detainee's Indian citizenship, the court declined to interfere with the authorities' decision and dismissed the habeas corpus petition. Indian Passport Is a Travel Document, Not Citizenship Proof, Says MEA (Watch Video).

Detention Timeline

The court noted that Nasir was detained on June 18, 2026, in accordance with a Ministry of Home Affairs circular dated May 2, 2025. He is currently lodged in a detention centre.

Under the circular, a detainee is given 60 days to establish Indian citizenship. As of the date of the judgment, July 20, the court said Nasir had failed to produce any document establishing his citizenship.

Adverse Inference Over Parents' Burial Site

The bench permitted Molla's advocate to speak to Nasir over the phone, a facility provided by the state. During the call, Nasir claimed that his parents had died in India, but the court noted he was unable to identify where they had been buried.

"We enquired of the parents of the detainee in order to direct DNA testing if the writ petitioner agrees, with the mortal remains of the parents in order to establish that the parents of the detainee were in India," the bench observed.

"Since the detainee and the writ petitioner refused to identify the places where the mortal remains of the detainee's parents are lying, we draw an adverse inference as against the detainee with regard to his parents being Indian citizens," the court said.

Court Questions Petitioner's Credibility

The bench also took a dim view of Molla's conduct, observing that he had not approached the court with clean hands. It noted that while he had described himself as Nasir's cousin in a written complaint to the police, he claimed in the writ petition to be the detainee's uncle.

Molla's petition had also stated that he brought up Nasir following the death of Nasir's father in 1980. The court pointed out, however, that Molla is 38 years old while Nasir is 46, a fact that undercut the claim. The bench rejected Molla's assertion that he had raised Nasir as his uncle.

Centre Cites Verification Findings

Appearing for the Centre, counsel submitted that a detention order issued against Nasir on June 18, 2026, recorded that an inquiry, interrogation and verification into his citizenship had found him to be a Bangladeshi national.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 30, 2026 03:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).