Calcutta HC says ID cards not proof of citizenship

The Calcutta High Court has ruled that widely held identification documents, including Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and voter identity cards, are not conclusive proof of Indian citizenship. The judgment, delivered on July 20, 2026, came as the court dismissed a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention of a man suspected of being a Bangladeshi national.

A division bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Ajay Kumar Gupta held that the burden of proving citizenship rests solely on an individual identified as a suspected foreigner, and neither the state nor the court has a responsibility to dispel such doubts. The ruling was made while hearing a petition filed by Suman Molla, who sought the release of his relative, Nasir, from a detention center.

Nasir was detained on June 18, 2026, under a Ministry of Home Affairs circular dated May 2, 2025. His detention followed the deletion of his name from West Bengal's electoral rolls during a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise earlier in 2026, despite an appeal against the deletion being pending. To establish Nasir's citizenship, the petitioner presented his voter ID, Aadhaar card, PAN card issued by the Income Tax Department, and a...