"Land Records Not Citizenship Proof": Calcutta High Court In 'Foreigner' Case

Land records aren't proof of Indian citizenship, the Calcutta High Court has observed, hearing a plea by Nasir Mollah, who was detained in Bengal in June for allegedly being a Bangladeshi intruder.Elaborating on its order, the high court said just because a foreigner buys property in India doesn't mean he is an Indian citizen."A foreign national can buy a property in India. Merely because a foreign national buys an immovable property in India ipso facto does not make such purchaser an Indian citizen," the court said in its two-page order.Mollah's relative filed the petition on his behalf. He is currently lodged in a detention home.His lawyer had submitted that the detainee is an Indian national.The state claimed that he had confessed to being a foreigner.The court had asked the petitioner to provide documents that prove his Indian citizenship."In response to such query of the court, learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that no document annexed to the writ petition conclusively establishes the Indian citizenship of the detainee, excepting the land records," the court noted in its order."Land records, which the petitioner refers to again, are not a document of proof of Indian citizenship," it added.The court has given the petitioner another opportunity on July 20 to produce any document that proves he is an Indian citizen."The writ petitioner may disclose any document to establish the Indian citizenship of the detainee on affidavit by that time," it said.Recent Passport RowLast month, the central government clarified that passports are not conclusive proof of Indian citizenship.Sources told NDTV it had never been proof of Indian citizenship.The sources said these documents can technically be given to non-citizens as well. The Bombay High Court made the same point in a 2013 judgment and held that because the law allows for passports to non-citizens, mere possession cannot be considered 'conclusive' or 'definitive' evidence of citizenship.Also read: Explained: The Passport-Citizenship Row And What The Government SaidNRC In Bengal?West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has hinted at initiating an Assam-like National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state.Also read: Bengal To Implement Uniform Code, Bring Anti-Conversion Law: Suvendu Adhikari"Give us some time. A strict law against land jihad, love jihad and forced religious conversion and a Uniform Civil Code will be introduced in West Bengal," he said last month.