Passport valid ID for SIR, Election Commission officials say | Today’s news
Election Commission of India (ECI) officials said today that Indian passports remain among the 12 valid supporting documents voters can use to determine eligibility for electoral rolls under the ongoing Special Intensive Review (SIR).
The officials were responding to a query after a controversy erupted when the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified that a passport is not a proof of citizenship under the Passport Act, 1967, according to PTI.
The answer comes amid the controversy it has sparked MEA the recent clarification that a passport is a travel document, not a document of citizenship. The MEA on Wednesday reiterated that the Indian passport is only a travel document and should not be treated as irrefutable proof of citizenship.
Government sources stressed that the passport was never considered as proof of citizenship and that the Modi government had not introduced any new policy regarding the document in the past 12 years.
During the Bihar SIR, the Assam special revision and the subsequent electoral roll revision phases, passports have been consistently listed among the 12 documents that individuals can produce when seeking to register or maintain their status on the electoral rolls.
“The passport was and continues to be one of the documents for establishing identity,” the official said, stressing that “there has been no change.”
The Electoral Registration Officer examines one of the orientation documents to decide whether a person is eligible to be registered as an Elector.
Passport Row: Former Secretary of State Weighs In
Former Foreign Minister Nirupama Menon Rao weighed into the debate on the legal status of passports, stating that an Indian passport is a strong proof of citizenship in everyday life and international travel. However, Rao said it is not the final legal authority on citizenship disputes.
In a post on X, Rao said that the passport is issued because the government is satisfied that you are an Indian citizen. So it’s a strong proof of citizenship in everyday life and in international travel, she said.
“But in a legal dispute about citizenship itself, it remains the decisive right Citizenship Act, and a passport is not conclusive evidence that takes precedence over all other evidence,” Rao concluded.
A passport is strong proof of citizenship in everyday life and in international travel, but it is not irrefutable proof that trumps all other proof.
Rao said the MEA’s statement that a passport is a travel document and not a citizenship document is legally correct. “A passport is issued under the Passport Act, while citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955. One Act governs the document, the other the legal status,” she said.
