A political row has erupted over the status of passports as proof of citizenship. The government clarified that passports have never been conclusive proof of Indian citizenship under the Passports Act, 1967, while opposition parties accused the ruling BJP of attempting to undermine citizenship rights.
Published Date – 25 June 2026, 09:19 PM
New Delhi: A raging controversy erupted Thursday on the passport-citizenship issue with the government asserting that no new decision has been taken on the travel document in the past 12 years and the opposition alleging that groundwork is being done to “arbitrarily deny” citizenship rights to those who “disagree” with the ruling dispensation.
Citing the Passport Act 1967, government sources said passports can be given to even non-citizens “in the public interest” while Election Commission officials said passport continues to be among the 12 valid supporting documents required by voters to prove their eligibility to be on the voters’ list.
Amid the row, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday published a gazette notification, dated June 20, announcing the hike in the application fee for an ordinary fresh passport containing 36 pages from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500.
The controversy emerged after media reported, quoting MEA officials, that a passport is a travel document, not a proof of citizenship. It is not a document that establishes citizenship, the MEA officials had said on Wednesday.
“It was not decided yesterday that the passport is not a proof of citizenship. It was not even decided in the last 12 years under the Narendra Modi government. The passport has never been a proof of citizenship,” a government source said.
The sources also cited Section 20 of the Passports Act, 1967, which says that passports and travel documents can be issued to persons who are not citizens of India.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions relating to issue of a passport or travel document, the central government may issue, or cause to be issued, a passport or travel document to a person who is not a citizen of India if that government is of the opinion that it is necessary so to do in the public interest.”
However, the Section 6(2)(a) of the same Passports Act, 1967 provides that the passport authority shall refuse to issue a passport “if the applicant is not a citizen of India”.
The opposition Congress slammed the MEA statement and alleged that the government is laying the groundwork to arbitrarily deny citizenship rights to Indians with whom it disagrees.
Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal alleged that the BJP-led government had earlier removed the names of people from certain communities from the electoral rolls to suit its political agenda.
“This government excels in creating panic and helplessness among ordinary citizens. By declaring that even a passport doesn’t certify one’s citizenship, they are laying the groundwork to arbitrarily deny citizenship rights to Indians who they disagree with,” Venugopal said in a post on X.
The BJP defended the MEA statement and asserted that the Modi government has not introduced any new rule regarding passports. The party said the MEA has merely reiterated a long-settled legal position that a passport alone is not conclusive proof of Indian citizenship.
The BJP cited the Passports Act, 1967, and judicial rulings, including a 2013 Bombay High Court judgment, to contend that citizenship is determined under the Citizenship Act, 1955, and not by the possession of any single document.
BJP IT department head Amit Malviya attacked the opposition, describing them as the “kagaz nahin dikhayenge” brigade and accusing them of sensationalising a settled legal position for political reasons.
The EC officials said that Indian passports continue to be among the 12 valid supporting documents required by voters to prove their eligibility to be on the voters’ list under the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls.
During the EC conducted Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and the special revision in Assam, and subsequent phases of poll roll revision, passports have consistently been listed as one of the 12 documents that individuals can submit when applying to register or maintain their status on the electoral rolls.
“Passport was and continues to be one of the documents to establish identity,” an official said, underlining that “there is no change”. The electoral registration officer examines one of the indicative documents to decide whether a person is eligible to be on the voters’ list.
During the hearing on the SIR, the Supreme Court had observed that Aadhaar was not conclusive proof of citizenship, just a document of identity.
On December 20, 2019, the government of India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) issued a comprehensive explainer via a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
It said, “Citizenship can be proved by submitting any documents related to date of birth and place of birth. However, a decision is yet to be taken on such acceptable documents.”
The PIB also said in the FAQs that citizenship of any person is decided on the basis of The Citizenship Rules, 2009.These rules are based on the Citizenship Act, 1955.
It said five ways for any person to become a citizen of India was citizenship by birth, citizenship by descent, citizenship by registration, citizenship by naturalisation and citizenship by incorporation.
TMC leader Mahua Moitra took a dig on the government over the issue.
“It would seem that the only proof of Indian citizenship today is to be both Hindu and a BJP voter. Nothing else will do,” she said on X.
AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi asked if passport, birth certificate, aadhaar card, and voter ID card are not documents of citizenship, then which document is required to prove citizenship.
“According to the govt, no document is conclusive proof of citizenship. By 2030, only one document will be proof of citizenship: BJP membership,” he said.
Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal also hit out at the government over the matter.
“Which document then is proof of citizenship? BLO can doubt my citizenship Deprive me of my vote. Result BJP wins the election. Over to Supreme Court!” he said on X.
Lyricist Javed Akhtar termed the MEA clarification “absurd”.
“The ministry of external affairs says that a passport is a document travel not the proof of citizen ship. Really ??? So are they providing this travel document to some people without being totally convinced that this person is an Indian citizen? It is absurd,” he said on X.
