15 documents including PAN, EPIC not enough proof of Indian citizenship: Gauhati HC rejecting man's claim

Published 3 July 2026 · india

The Gauhati High Court recently upheld a Foreigners Tribunal's order declaring a local resident a foreigner, after finding that the 15 documents he relied on

The Gauhati High Court recently upheld a Foreigners Tribunal's order declaring a local resident a foreigner, after finding that the 15 documents he relied on failed to establish his Indian citizenship, legal news website Bar and Bench reported. A division bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Shamima Jahan dismissed the petition filed by 38-year-old Aminul Hoque, a Guwahati resident, who had challenged a 2019 order of the Foreigners Tribunal. Also Read | How India's passport compared globally Hoque had argued that he was an Indian citizen by birth and relied on a series of documents, including the 1951 Register of Citizens (NRC), electoral rolls from 1966 onwards, a 1973 land sale deed, his PAN card, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) and school records to trace his family's presence in Assam before the 1971 cut-off date, Bar and Bench said. After examining this evidence, the Court concluded that Hoque had failed to prove his citizenship. "Though the petitioner had exhibited 15 (fifteen) documents as exhibits, the same does not appear to help the petitioner to establish that he has been able to discharge his burden as required under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1964 to prove that he is not a foreigner but an Indian Citizen," observed the Court.

The High Court remarks came days after the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reiterated that an Indian passport is merely a travel document and should not be regarded as conclusive proof of citizenship. The MEA clarification was issued on 24 June during a briefing on India's expanding passport and mobility ecosystem, as India marked the 14th Passport Seva Divas. The Union government’s position rested on distinct statutory frameworks: citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955, whereas passports are issued under the Passports Act, 1967. Govt documents don’t establish citizenship: HC The Guahati Court also made it clear that identity documents issued by government authorities cannot, by themselves, establish citizenship. "It is well settled that PAN Card and EPIC are not proof of citizenship," the court said. Also Read | Tharoor for dual passport-Aadhaar document policy to end citizenship proof row Ultimately, the Court dismissed the petition, allowing the consequences flowing from the Foreigners Tribunal's 2019 order to follow.

Advocate MU Mahmud appeared for Aminul Hoque (petitioner). Central Government Counsel B Deka represented the Union of India. Standing Counsel AI Ali represented Election Commission of India. The Guahati Court noted that Hoque had failed to establish a continuous documentary link between himself and his projected ancestors. Hoque had contended that differences in the spelling of his parents' and grandparents' names across official records were the result of clerical errors. He also explained that his family had moved from one village to another because of erosion caused by the Brahmaputra River, which explained why their names appeared in voter lists from different places over the years, Bar and Bench reported. The Court, however, noted that it was not particularly concerned by minor spelling differences in names. It found that Hoque had failed to produce convincing evidence showing that the family appearing in records from different villages was the same family. The Court also noted that there were unexplained changes in ages, family members and places of residence across the documents.