The Calcutta High Court has held that a Voter Identity Card, Aadhaar card, PAN card, bank account or record of rights cannot, by themselves, constitute conclusive proof of Indian citizenship while dismissing a habeas corpus petition filed by the uncle of a man detained after his name was deleted from the electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), 2026.
A Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta observed that a Voter Identity Card merely evidences enrolment in the electoral roll and does not conclusively establish citizenship.
The Court observed that a Voter ID card merely proves an individual’s inclusion on the electoral roll, not their Indian citizenship. Furthermore, the detainee’s name had already been removed from the voter list during the SIR 2026 process
The Bench further held that an Aadhaar card, Permanent Account Number (PAN), bank account and ancestral land records were likewise insufficient to conclusively establish citizenship. It observed that while the petitioner had relied on records of rights pertaining to the detainee’s great-grandfather and grandfather, those documents did not prove the detainee’s own citizenship.
The petitioner claimed that his 46-year-old nephew had been wrongfully detained on June 18, 2026, pursuant to a Ministry of Home Affairs circular dated May 2, 2025, and lodged in a detention centre. He contended that the detainee’s name had been deleted from the electoral roll during the SIR, 2026 exercise without being afforded a hearing, although an appeal against the deletion was pending. The petitioner also relied on the detainee’s voter identity card, bank account and ancestral land records in support of his claim.
Examining the detention order, the Court noted that it recorded the authorities’ conclusion, based on inquiry, interrogation and verification, that the detainee was a Bangladeshi national. The detention had been ordered under the provisions of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 and the Immigration and Foreigners Order, 2025.
The Bench reiterated that where the authorities allege a person to be a foreign national, the burden lies on the detainee to establish Indian citizenship, referring to Section 16 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 1946.
The Court also took note of material indicating that the detainee had acknowledged being a Bangladeshi national while in the detention centre. It further observed that the writ petition did not contain the detainee’s birth certificate or other reliable evidence establishing his place or date of birth, and therefore failed to make out a case of citizenship by birth.
Additionally, the Bench drew an adverse inference from the petitioner’s failure to disclose, despite repeated queries, where the mortal remains of the detainee’s parents were located.
Holding that the petitioner had failed to produce conclusive material establishing the detainee’s Indian citizenship, the High Court declined to interfere with the detention order and dismissed the petition.
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