Let’s Not Confuse Aadhaar Card with Citizenship

Recently, a piece of news caught my attention. It concerned an Aadhaar card. A person was arrested on the grounds that he held Nepali Citizenship while simultaneously possessing Indian Aadhaar card. Prima facie, this may have seemed like an open and shut case of fraud. But the reality, as the law makes clear, is far more nuanced.

This is not a new issue. In Nepal, there exists a widespread misconception about the nature and properties of an Aadhaar card like what an Aadhaar card actually is, what it proves, and more importantly, what it does not.

Let me explain.

Aadhar card is a statutory proof of identity for residents of India, irrespective of their domicile and citizenship. It is a tool designed to enable social and financial inclusion, which is not restricted to Indian citizens alone. That means Aadhaar card is not exclusively for its citizen.

The Aadhar (Targeted Delivery of Financial And Other Subsidies, Benefits And Services) Act, 2016 (hereinafter referred as ‘the Act’) is the primary law that regulates authentication and distribution of Aadhaar Number through Unique Identification Authority of India. With regards to the required political status of a Aadhaar holder, Section 3 of the Act is unambiguous. It states that “Every resident shall be entitled to obtain an Aadhaar number by submitted his demographic information and biometric information by undergoing the process of enrolment…” The operative word here is ‘resident’ not a citizen.

Section 7 further establishes the functional purpose of Aadhaar card. It allows the Government, both Central and State, as the case may be, to require Aadhaar as a condition for an individual to receive subsidies, benefits or services whose expenditure is drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India or the Consolidated Fund of a respective State. In short, Aadhaar card is an administrative instrument, moreover, a gateway to welfare and services and nothing more.

Most critically, Section 9 of the Act explicitly states that an Aadhaar Card (Aadhaar number) is not evidence of citizenship or domicile. It is simply a unique identity number assigned to an individual. This section puts the matter to rest with clarity that an Aadhaar Card bears no relation to the nationality, citizenship, or domicile status of Aadhaar holder.

A Nepali national possessing an Aadhaar card is therefore not, by that fact alone, committing any misrepresentation of citizenship. The two documents, Aadhaar Card and Citizenship Id, serve entirely two different legal purposes under entirely different legal frameworks.

Laws and policies of India governing citizenship are, of course, a separate matter and slightly different from Nepal’s policy. This one I intend to address in a future piece. For now, it is important that we understand this fundamental distinction to avoid injustice to anyone in any manner: Aadhaar establishes who the person (holder) is. It does not establish where he/she belongs.