
In a massive verdict with far reaching consequences, the Bombay High Court has strongly reminded that an Aadhaar card cannot be used as a document of evidence to prove Indian citizenship. When an application was made to the Court on a bail, it elucidated on the legal status of documents usually confused as possession of nationality like PAN cards and Voter ID cards, and confirmed that citizenship is governed under the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 only. This decision brings much needed clarity on evidential value of widely held identity documents in cases of citizenship.
Facts of the Case
The matter before the court was a bail application made by Abbas Shaikh who was arrested on suspicion that he was a Bangladesh national living illegally in India. He was charged under the Passports act and the Foreigners act. In order to prove his argument that he was a citizen of India, Shaikh provided the court with a number of documents among them being his Aadhaar card, PAN card, a Voter ID card, a school leaving certificate earmarked to West Bengal and a bank passbook. Prosecution was not in favor of granting bail by giving a report of verification as done by District Magistrate of Malda, West Bengal. This report indicated that the school leaving certificate offered by Shaikh was fake and it was not issued by the respective school.
Issue Raised
The necessity of documents like an Aadhaar card, a PAN card and Voter ID card to determine beyond reasonable doubt the Indian citizenship of the person.
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Observations and Judgement of Court
The Bombay High Court published a categorical and concise order by rejecting bail to the petitioner. The ruling of the Court has been made through an intensive review of records provided and on the legal regulations that exist on citizenship. The Court clearly held that an Aadhaar Card is not a citizenship document. It cited an earlier order of the High Court that had already decided that such document as PAN cards and Voter ID cards do not in isolation provide the status of Indian citizenship to the individual. It was categorically mentioned that the question of citizenship is one that is under the exclusive domain of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and regulations made thereunder. The bench had a very serious consideration to the verification report stating that the school leaving certificate of the petitioner was found to be bogus. The Court visualized that it was a serious allegation by him and this meant that the claims of the petitioner were cast in serious doubts. As the main document, which was proposed to prove his origin, was faked, and the rest of the documents (Aadhaar, PAN, etc.) were not recognized by the law as sources of legal decision of his citizenship, the Court found that a case against applicant was made out prima facie. Accordingly, the bail application was rejected on reasons that there were enough materials to warrant that he was a foreign national residing in India without proper authority.
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