India, July 30 -- The Calcutta High Court has held that voter identity cards, Aadhaar and PAN cards are not conclusive proof of Indian citizenship.

The observation came while the court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Suman Molla, who claimed that his nephew, Nasir, had been placed in a detention camp after his name was deleted from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal, even though an appeal against the deletion was pending.

The petitioner relied on Nasir's voter identity card, Aadhaar card, PAN card issued by the Income Tax Department and a bank passbook to contend that he was an Indian citizen and not a foreign national. A division bench comprising Justices Debangsu Basak...