Voter card, Aadhaar, bank account, PAN not citizenship proof: Calcutta HC
The Calcutta High Court ruled that documents like voter cards, Aadhaar, and bank accounts are not conclusive proof of Indian citizenship. The court made this decision while reviewing a case involving a man detained for allegedly entering India illegally from Bangladesh.
Why it matters
This ruling clarifies the legal limitations of common identification documents in citizenship disputes, impacting judicial proceedings regarding immigration and nationality.
KOLKATA: Neither one’s voter card nor Aadhaar nor bank account is conclusive proof of Indian citizenship, the Calcutta High Court has said, refusing to interfere in the state’s proceedings regarding a “Murshidabad man” held in a detention centre for being a “Bangladeshi” because of obvious discrepancies.Nasir and his cousin, Suman Molla, were given repeated chances to prove that the former was an Indian citizen by descent, the court said.Suman claimed that Nasir’s father died in 1980 and he brought up Nasir, but the court noted that it was inclined to “disbelieve” the contention as Nasir (46 years old, according to records) was older than Suman (38 years old).The division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi also said Nasir and Suman did not come with “clean hands”; Suman claimed to be Nasir’s cousin while being questioned by cops but, in court, said he was Nasir’s uncle.Suman’s lawyer…
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