1 month ago
High Court Rejects Petition, Says ID Cards Aren’t Proof of Citizenship
A man named Nasir was taken to a detention centre in India because the government thought he might be from Bangladesh.
His uncle, Suman Molla, asked the court to check if Nasir was actually an Indian citizen.
The court looked at documents like his Aadhaar card, voter card, PAN card, and bank passbook.
It said none of these alone prove you are an Indian citizen.
The court also said that Nasir had to prove his citizenship himself, but he didn’t give any proof.
Because of that, the court decided not to help him and said the petition was dismissed.
The court also noted that Nasir and his uncle had not been honest in the past, which made the court less trusting of them.
Calcutta High Court ruled that Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN and bank passbook are not conclusive proof of Indian citizenship.
The court dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by Suman Molla for his nephew Nasir, who is detained as a Bangladeshi national.
Nasir was detained on June 18, 2026, after his name was deleted from electoral rolls during the 2026 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The bench held that the burden of proof for citizenship lies with the detainee and that Nasir failed to provide any document establishing citizenship within 60 days.
The court noted that Nasir and Molla had not approached the court with "clean hands," and that Nasir could not identify his parents' burial sites, leading to an adverse inference.
- Who
- Suman Molla, his nephew Nasir, and the Calcutta High Court judges
- What
- Court ruled that Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN and bank passbook are not conclusive proof of Indian citizenship and dismissed a habeas corpus petition
- Where
- Calcutta High Court, West Bengal, India
- When
- July 20, 2026
- Why
- To determine Nasir’s citizenship status after his name was deleted from electoral rolls
Key facts
- Court
- Calcutta High Court
- Judges
- Debangsu Basak, Ajay Kumar Gupta
- Petitioner
- Suman Molla
- Detained Person
- Nasir
- Date of Detention
- June 18, 2026
- Citizenship Documents Reviewed
- Aadhaar, Voter ID, PAN, Bank Passbook
- Outcome
- Habeas corpus petition dismissed
- Citizenship Burden
- On detainee
Quotes
Calcutta High Court bench
Judges of the Calcutta High Court
“"Writ petitioner and the detainee fail to prove the Indian citizenship of the detainee. Writ petitioner and the detainee are unable to discharge the burden of proof as mandated by the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025," the court said in its order.”
indianexpress.com
NDTV
“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,”
NDTV
Sources
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