Election Card enough to prove Indian Citizenship, says Mumbai Court
Mumbai – Election card can be produced as a proof of Indian citizenship, stated a magistrate court of Indian-city of Mumbai this week, while clarifying that Aadhar card, PAN card, driving license or ration card cannot be termed as the documents to prove citizenship.
The matter came to light when the court acquitted a couple Abbas Shaikh (45) and Rabia Shaikh (40) from Mankhurd area of Mumbai who were arrested in 2017 on the charges of suspicion of being Bangladeshi citizens illegally living in India.
The court held that a birth certificate, a domicile certificate, a bona fide certificate and a passport can be relied upon to establish the origin of any person.
“Even the election card can be said to be sufficient proof of citizenship as while applying for the election card or a voting card, a person has to file a declaration with the authority in view of Form 6 of Peoples Representation Act to the authority that he is a citizen of India and if the declaration is found false, he is liable for punishment,” the court said.
