A passport has never been proof of citizenship, government sources told PTI on Thursday, a day after reports quoted external affairs ministry officials as saying the same thing at a press briefing.
According to the Passport Act 1967, passports can be given to non-citizens too, the sources told PTI.
"It was not decided yesterday that the passport is not a proof of citizenship. It was not even decided in the last 12 years. The passport has never been a proof of citizenship," a source told the news agency.
Earlier high court judgments have held that Aadhaar, PAN card or even voters’ id cards are not proof of citizenship.
In 2019, in a Q&A on the National Register of Citizens, the Press Information Bureau had written: “Citizenship of any person is decided on the basis of The Citizenship Rules, 2009. These rules are based on the Citizenship Act, 1955. This rule is publicly in front of everyone. These are five ways for any person to become a citizen of India: I. Citizenship by Birth,
II. Citizenship by descent, III. Citizenship by registration, IV. Citizenship by naturalization, V. Citizenship by incorporation.”
In the answer to another question, the PIB release said: “It would be sufficient for you to provide the details of your birth such as date of birth, month, year and place of birth. If you do not have the details of your birth, then you will have to provide the same details about your parents. But there is absolutely no compulsion to submit any document by/of the parents. Citizenship can be proved by submitting any documents related to date of birth and place of birth. However, a decision is yet to be taken on such acceptable documents.”
Online outrage
A number of voices online outraged at the news about passports not being proof of citizenship, and linked it to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
"It would seem that the only proof of Indian citizenship today is to be both Hindu and a BJP voter. Nothing else will do," Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also hit out at the government.
"Which document then is proof of citizenship? BLO can doubt my citizenship Deprive me of my vote. Result BJP wins the election. Over to Supreme Court !" Sibal said on X.
Lyricist Javed Akhtar termed the MEA clarification as absurd.
"The ministry of external affairs says that a passport is a document travel not the proof of citizen ship. Really ??? . So are they providing this travel document to some people with out being totally convinced that this person is an Indian citizen ?? . It is absurd," he said on X.
Official sources suggested to PTI that the judgments of the Bombay High Court in 2013 have also made it clear that a passport is not a proof of citizenship.