Passport is not a document of citizenship, why is the Indian government saying this?

24 June 2026. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) gave a statement on the 14th Passport Seva Day. MEA clearly said that Indian passport is not a proof of citizenship. It is a travel document, not a citizenship document. But the question is why? Central government sources clarified on Thursday that Indian passport has never been a proof of citizenship. This is not a decision taken yesterday nor has it been decided in the last 12 years. The legal and historical truth is that passport has never been proof of Indian citizenship.

Government sources said that this is not a new rule. Under the Passport Act 1967, passports or travel documents can also be issued to non-citizens under certain circumstances. Government sources said that in the decisions of Bombay High Court in 2013, it was also said that passport cannot be considered as the final proof of citizenship. Let us understand the legal provisions, rules and important court decisions behind this…

1. What does the Passport Act, 1967 say?

According to law, passport is not limited to Indian citizens only. According to Section 20 of the Passport Act, 1967, the Central Government can issue passports or travel documents even to those who are not Indian citizens. If the government feels that in public interest it is necessary to issue an Indian travel document to a non-citizen, it can do so. Therefore, just having a passport in hand does not mean that the person concerned is a legal citizen of India.

According to Section 5 of the Act, the passport officer can issue a passport only after scrutinizing the application and necessary verification. Section 6(2)(a) says that if the applicant is not an Indian citizen, his passport application will be rejected. That is, under the general rule, before issuing the passport, the government ensures that the person applying is an Indian citizen. For this reason, many people believe that passport should be considered a strong proof of citizenship. However, this is not the case at all.

2. Historic decision of Bombay High Court (12 August 2025)

The Bombay High Court had given a major decision in August 2025 on the issue of passport and citizenship. A bench of Justice Amit Borkar rejected the bail plea of a Thane resident (Babu Abdul Ruf Sardar), who was accused by the police of being a Bangladeshi citizen.

Important facts related to the case

The accused had Aadhar Card, PAN Card, Voter ID and Passport of India since 2013.
His documents were related to income tax records, bank accounts and business registration.
According to the FIR lodged at Wagle Estate Police Station, he had entered India illegally and had used fake documents.

Important comment of the court

Justice Borkar clarified that merely having documents like Aadhar Card, PAN Card or Voter ID does not make a person a citizen of India. All these documents are to prove identity or to avail government and financial services. These cannot replace the basic legal requirements of citizenship prescribed under the ‘Citizenship Act, 1955’.

3. K.L. Modi vs Union of India (landmark case of 1969)

To understand the passport and citizenship controversy, look at the 1969 ‘K.L. It is important to know the case ‘Modi vs Union of India’.

K.L. A person named Modi went to Singapore for business in 1953 on an Indian passport. In 1959, due to the political situation in Singapore, he was forced to take Singapore citizenship and passport.
When he returned to India in 1967, he was declared a foreigner and deported. He argued in the court that he never gave up his Indian citizenship and had taken the Singapore passport out of compulsion.
In these cases, the Supreme Court has made it clear that if an Indian citizen voluntarily obtains a passport of another country, then under Paragraph 3 of Schedule III of the Citizenship Rules, it is assumed that he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of that country.

4. Law of taking away citizenship and dual citizenship

The Constitution of India and the ‘Citizenship Act, 1955’ (Section 9) do not allow dual citizenship. If a person voluntarily acquires the citizenship or passport of any other country, his Indian citizenship ceases with immediate effect.
Under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, the Central Government has the sole power to decide whether a person has lost the citizenship of India or acquired the citizenship of another country. Courts or state governments cannot decide this directly.

5. Then what is the real proof of Indian citizenship?

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) made it clear that the main purpose of the passport is to ease international travel and to identify your nationality abroad. This is not a complete or sole proof in itself to prove citizenship within the country. The government’s stance also shows the complexity of this matter. When asked in Parliament in February 2020 whether Aadhaar card, passport, voter ID, PAN card or birth certificate can be considered as documents proving citizenship, the Home Ministry said that none of these documents is the final proof of citizenship.

Now the question arises that if passport is not the final proof of citizenship, then what is it? The most direct answer to this is that there is no single document in India which alone can prove citizenship.

1. No ‘universal certificate’

Unlike some countries of the world, in India there is no such ‘universal citizenship certificate’, which is present in the pocket of every common citizen of the country. India has never even adopted ‘National Citizenship Card’.

2. Rules of Citizenship Act, 1955

Citizenship in India is mainly determined by the ‘Citizenship Act, 1955’. Under this law, any person can get Indian citizenship in 5 ways.

The only document that provides clear proof of Indian citizenship is the Citizenship Certificate, which is issued under the Citizenship Act. However, this certificate is available only to those people who have acquired Indian citizenship through registration or naturalization/naturalization. Most people in India are Indian citizens by birth, so they do not usually have such a citizenship certificate.

3. Important documents to prove citizenship

There is no single definitive document to prove citizenship, but depending on the circumstances and type of citizenship, these documents are considered strong grounds.

Birth certificate issued by the competent authority.
Citizenship certificate issued by the government in case of people who have become citizens by registration or naturalization.
Documents proving the citizenship of parents (when citizenship is being claimed by descent).
Voter ID card.
Supporting records like school certificate and domicile certificate.

In December 2019, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) had said in response to questions related to NRC and CAA that citizenship can be proved on the basis of different documents related to date of birth and place of birth, but the final list of required documents is yet to be decided.

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