Aadhar Deactivation May Have De Facto Consequence Of Terminating Citizenship: Calcutta HC Grants Interim Relief To Suspect ‘Bangladeshi’ Family

The Calcutta High Court has extended interim relief to a woman and her family members whose Aadhar cards were suspended by the Ministry of Home Affairs on alleged grounds of them being ‘Bangladeshi Nationals.’

In noting that the petitioners had made a strong prima facie case for the Court’s interference and that the Union authorities had not followed statutory process while depriving the petitioners of their rights, a single-bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya held:

The present action of deactivating the Aadhaar Cards of the petitioners might have the consequence, de facto, of terminating the Indian citizenship of the petitioners, since the deactivation of their Aadhaar Cards has severe consequences on the petitioners’ right to live a dignified life as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India and to pursue vocations under Article 19 of the Constitution of India.

It added, A sufficiently strong prima facie case has been made out by the petitioners…as the appropriate preceding steps were apparently not carried out by the respondent-authorities. Insofar as the deactivation of the Aadhaar card during pendency of the writ petition is concerned, the same also prima facie appears to be de hors the procedure as laid down in the 2016 Regulations pertaining to Aadhaar cards. Accordingly, the deactivation of the petitioners’ Aadhaar cards and all consequential action taken by the respondent authorities shall remain stayed during pendency of the writ petition.

Petitioners challenged a memoranda issued by the respondent-authorities questioning their status as Indian citizens by alleging that they belonged to Bangladesh, and the consequential deactivation of their Aadhar cards. Counsel for the petitioner argued that the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and Rules, as well as the various regulations pertaining to Aadhar cards were violated by the respondent authorities.

Counsel argued that the petitioners' Aadhar cards had been deactivated during the pendency of the writ petition, which led to their Voter ID and PAN cards being consequentially suspended. It was argued that no enquiry had been conducted as contemplated under the Aadhar Regulations, 2016 and that the petitioners had not been informed of any grounds for the suspension of their Aadhar card.

It was contended by the petitioner’s husband/private respondent that he had furnished sufficient documents to show that the petitioner and her family were Bangladeshi citizens, and that the Indian documents were attained fraudulently by her and her family. It was argued that irrespective of the matrimonial litigation between the parties, the petitioner was a Bangladeshi citizen and as such the memoranda issued by the respondent authorities were appropriate.

ASG for the Union government submitted that the MHA had received reports from a central security agency, which indicated that the petitioners had fraudulently obtained their Indian documents. It was argued that the State as a sovereign is entitled to take appropriate action if it came out that a person had fraudulently obtained documents to reflect Indian citizenship while being a foreign national. It was submitted that the petitioners were given sufficient hearing and that even the deactivation of their Aadhar cards could not call for an interim order.

Upon hearing the parties, the Court noted that the only grounds under which citizenship of individuals could be challenged were enlisted under the Citizenship Act.

It was observed that while the authorities had not terminated the petitioners' Indian citizenship, the revocation of their Aadhar card had severe consequences on their quality of life, being a de facto termination of citizenship.

In going through the memoranda under challenge, the Court noted that the same had been received from a central agency, claiming that the petitioner no. 1 was a Bangladeshi national, leading to the suspension of the Aadhar cards.

Court observed that it was “surprising” that the said memoranda did not have any references as to why the documents presented by the petitioners in obtaining the Aadhar cards showed that their Indian citizenship stood vitiated.

Even if we assume for the sake of argument that the petitioner no. 1’s husband, against whom the petitioner no. 1 has initiated a matrimonial suit and an alimony application, furnished certain documents, which are purportedly documents of the petitioner no. 1’s Bangladeshi nationality, there is no reason as to why ipso facto such documents, without further scrutiny, field enquiry and justified reasoning, would vitiate the documents produced by the petitioner no. 1 herself regarding her Indian Citizenship, it was held.

In further perusing a criminal complaint filed by the husband against the petitioner no. 1, the Court noted that even the police authorities were unsure about the petitioner’s status as a Bangladeshi national.

The petitioners, who are a family, are holding a number of documents pertaining to identity proof of the said persons with regard to their Indian citizenship as specifically showed at this present juncture. It is very difficult to prove, found the police in their report, that the petitioners are Bangladeshi nationals, the Court noted.

Court held that in the absence of a formal adjudication or enquiry, the respondent authorities could not have taken away the basic rights of the petitioner and her family as Indian citizens.

It was further observed that while hearings were given to the petitioner, no inquiry report conducted under the Aadhar Regulations were supplied to the petitioners prior to deactivating their Aadhar cards.

In view of the above, the Court stayed the respondent authority’s decision to suspend the petitioners and her family’s Aadhar cards, but allowed the respondent authorities to proceed on the basis of the impugned memoranda, while complying with all statutory due procedures.

Matter has been listed for further hearing on 5^th December.

Case: Priya Das and others Vs. Union of India and others

Case No: WPA 16013/2023

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