Voter ID, PAN not proof of citizenship: Gauhati High Court

February 17: The Gauhati High Court ruled that voter photo identity card cannot be ‘conclusive proof’ of a person’s citizenship. On Monday, while delivering its judgement in the context of assessing who is a foreigner as per the terms of the Assam Accord, the High Court also observed that land revenue receipts, PAN card and bank documents cannot be used to prove citizenship.

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A division bench of Justice Manojit Bhuyan and Justice Parthivjyoti Saikia reiterated an earlier judgement of Md Babul Islam versus State of Assam (No 3547)  that “electoral photo identity card is not a proof of citizenship”. A coordinate bench had held therein that merely producing an Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) in the absence of supporting evidence would not be a proof citizenship.