When the government insists that an Indian passport is not proof of Indian citizenship, something more than a legal clarification is at stake. It raises a fundamental question about the relationship between the State and the citizen. The Ministry of External Affairs is technically correct in arguing that a passport is, in law, a travel document. Citizenship is a legal status flowing from the Citizenship Act, not from the Passport Act.

A passport authority may determine that an applicant is entitled to an Indian passport, but that determination does not necessarily extinguish every conceivable future dispute over citizenship. Yet the law cannot be divorced from common sense. Unlike Aadhaar, which is issued to residents, or PAN, which serves tax administration, an Indian passport is not handed out merely because a person establishes identity. The Passports Act expressly bars the issuance of a passport to a non-citizen except in narrowly defined circumstances. The application process involves documentary scrutiny, police verification where required, and an official satisfaction that the applicant is entitled to an Indian passport. The document is issued only after authorities satisfy themselves that the applicant is........

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