Passport a valid document for SIR identification, say Election Commission officials

ELECTION Commission of India (ECI) officials today said Indian passports continue to be among the 12 valid supporting documents that voters can use to establish eligibility for inclusion on the electoral rolls under the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR).

Officials were responding to a query after a controversy erupted when the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified that a passport is not proof of citizenship under the Passport Act of 1967, according to PTI.
Also Read | Passport not final proof in legal disputes, ex-foreign secretary explains

The response comes amid controversy sparked by the MEA's recent clarification that a passport is a travel document, not proof of citizenship. The MEA reiterated on Wednesday that an Indian passport is merely a travel document and should not be regarded as conclusive proof of citizenship.

Government sources emphasized that a passport has never been considered proof of citizenship and that there has been no new policy regarding this document implemented by the Modi government in the past 12 years.

During the Bihar SIR, Assam's special revision and subsequent phases of poll roll revision, passports have consistently been listed among 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.

Passport Row: Former Foreign Secretary Weighs In

Former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao has weighed in on the debate over the legal status of passports, saying that an Indian passport is powerful evidence of citizenship in everyday life and international travel. However, Rao said, it is not the final legal authority in citizenship disputes.

Rao said, in a post on X, that a passport is issued because the Government has satisfied itself that you are an Indian citizen. It is therefore powerful evidence of citizenship in ordinary life and in international travel, she said.

“But in a legal dispute over citizenship itself, the governing law remains the Citizenship Act, and a passport is not conclusive proof that overrides all other evidence,” Rao summed up.

A passport is powerful evidence of citizenship in ordinary life and in international travel, but it is not conclusive proof that overrides all other evidence.

Rao said MEA's statement that a passport is a travel document, not a proof of citizenship, was legally correct. “A passport is issued under the Passports Act, while citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955. One law regulates the document; the other regulates the legal status,” she said.