GUWAHATI, Nov 12: The Gauhati High Court said PAN cards and electoral photo identity cards could not, by themselves, establish Indian citizenship unless the underlying records and supporting documents were proved.

A division bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Sushmita Phukan Khaund made the observation while dismissing a petition by Kulchan Begum, who had challenged a Foreigners Tribunal order declaring her a foreigner who entered India after March 25, 1971.

The court said the Income Tax Department and the Election Commission issued PAN and voter cards on the basis of self-applications without a formal inquiry. It said these documents could not be accepted as proof of citizenship unless the records supporting them were proved.

Begum claimed that she was born in Assam on April 25, 1977. She submitted electoral roll entries of her claimed grandparents from 1966 and 1970, besides her father's PAN and EPIC cards, her own PAN and voter cards, ration card and an acknowledgement of her NRC application.

She also claimed that her father was an Indian citizen, had contested Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, and had served as an elected councillor of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation. The court said these facts were not sufficient to establish that he was her father.

The bench said Begum failed to establish her relationship with her claimed parents and grandparents through reliable and acceptable evidence. It also said she failed to prove that her claimed grandparents and father had continuously resided in Assam, as required under Section 6A(2) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

The court noted inconsistencies in the claimed family history and ages recorded in electoral rolls. It said her claimed father's name first appeared in the 1997 electoral roll, where his age was recorded as 50, and there was no reliable evidence of the family's continuous residence in Assam between 1970 and 1997.

Rejecting Begum's request to remand the matter to the tribunal for examining additional witnesses, the court said the tribunal had given her several opportunities to submit further evidence. It upheld the tribunal's opinion and cancelled the interim bail granted to Begum in 2022.