- MEA clarifies passports are not proof of Indian citizenship.
- Debate sparked as Aadhaar, Voter ID also not valid.
- Birth/citizenship certificates are only legal proof.
The clarification of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on passports not being proof of citizenship has ignited a major debate, and the issue has now taken a political colour. The clarification came at a time when Aadhaar and its validity as proof of citizenship were already a contentious issue in the ongoing special intensive revision of poll rolls across the country.
Apart from a passport and an Aadhaar, a voter ID has also been listed as a 'not a proof of citizenship' document. This has led to confusion about what actually constitutes the valid proof of citizenship.
Prominent personalities like Javed Akhtar and politicians like Aditya Thackeray have termed the announcement as absurd and have raised questions on the need for police verification procedures for passports in such a case.
Akhtar termed the MEA's stance as absurd and questioned the government's logic in issuing the passport, asking if it was not convinced that the passport holder was not actually an Indian citizen.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray asked whether the government's stand that passports can also be issued to non-Indians could undermine the confidence of foreign nations on Indian passports.
Former Congress leader Kapil Sibal was also among those who had asked the government to clarify which document is proof of citizenship.
Nuances of passport and citizenship
On the other hand, government sources and legal experts, citing the Passport Act of 1967 and the Citizenship Act of 1955, have clarified that only a birth certificate or a citizenship certificate is valid proof of Indian citizenship.
The logic behind the government's stand could be explained through the Passports Act, 1967, and a Bombay High Court verdict in 2013.
As per the law, the government can issue passports to non-citizens. Under Section 20 of the 1967 Act, the central government has the power to issue the document to non-citizens. The same was upheld by the Bombay High Court in its 2013 verdict. The court had acknowledged that the document can be issued to non-citizens, too.
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Legally, the primary purpose of a passport is to act as a travel document and protect the holder's rights abroad. The document also aims to certify that the holder is the person he claims to be.
Therefore, the aim of the document is not to prove citizenship despite it being issued exclusively to Indian nationals, with a scope for some non-Indians, by law.
Former diplomat Nirupama Mohan Rao, in her post on X, highlighted that the passport is legally a property of the government and can be confiscated at any time, while citizenship is a right and can't be taken away.