PAN card, voter ID not proof of Indian citizenship: Gauhati High Court upholds Foreigners Tribunal order

The Gauhati High Court has ruled that a PAN card or voter identity card cannot independently establish Indian citizenship, particularly when the supporting records used to obtain these documents are not produced.

A division bench comprising Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Susmita Phukan Khaund made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by Kulchan Begum, a resident of Assam's Darrang district.

Begum had challenged a 2018 Foreigners Tribunal order declaring her a foreigner who entered India after March 25, 1971, according to a report in the Economic Times.

What did the High Court say?

In its November 5 judgment, the court held that identity documents issued on application cannot automatically establish citizenship.

"The PAN card and EPIC exhibited by the petitioner are not proof of citizenship. These are documents that are issued upon self-application without any formal enquiry by the Income Tax Department and Election Commission of India. Therefore, unless the records supplementing the PAN card and EPIC are proved, the said exhibited documents cannot be accepted as proof of Indian citizenship," the High Court said.

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What documents did Begum submit?

Begum claimed she was born in April 1977 and identified Sabed Ali and Jaheda Khatun as her grandparents, whose names allegedly appeared in the 1966 and 1970 electoral rolls.

She submitted electoral records, her father's PAN card and voter ID, her own identity documents, a ration card and an acknowledgement of her National Register of Citizens (NRC) application.

She also argued that her father, Abu Chand Mohammad, had contested parliamentary and Assembly elections and served as a Guwahati municipal councillor.

However, the court found that his political participation did not establish her relationship with him.

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Why was her claim rejected?

The bench identified discrepancies in electoral records and insufficient evidence connecting Begum to her claimed parents and grandparents.

It also noted a 27-year gap between 1970 and 1997 in the evidence concerning her family's residence in Assam.

"None of the exhibited documents helps the petitioner discharge her burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 to prove that she is a citizen of India and the daughter of Indian parents," the judges observed.

The court also rejected the NRC application acknowledgement as sufficient evidence.

Upholding the tribunal's findings, the High Court dismissed Begum's petition and revoked her interim bail granted in April 2022.

Under Assam's citizenship determination framework, March 25, 1971, remains the crucial cut-off date for identifying post-cut-off entrants.

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