‘MEA Issued Passports Without Citizenship Verification?’ Asks Javed Akhtar After Govt Calls It A Travel Document

The government has maintained that the Indian Passport has always been regarded as a travel document rather than conclusive proof of citizenship.

Javed Akhtar has reacted to the government's stance that a passport is not proof of citizenship.

Source : YouTube Snip

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• Javed Akhtar questioned MEA's passport statement on citizenship proof.
• MEA affirmed passports are travel documents, not citizenship proof.
• This MEA position is a long-standing legal precedent.
• Section 20 allows travel documents even for non-citizens.

Javed Akhtar has taken a swipe at the government after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) described the Indian passport as merely a travel document rather than proof of citizenship. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Akhtar wondered whether the government had been handing out passports all these years without actually verifying that recipients were Indian citizens.

‘MEA Issued Passports Without Citizenship Verification?’ 

“The Ministry of External Affairs says that a passport is a document of travel, not proof of citizenship. Really ???” asked Javed Akhtar in a post on X, formerly Twitter. 

He further said, “So are they providing this travel document to some people without being totally convinced that this person is an Indian citizen??” before calling it “absurd”.  

The ministry of external affairs says that a passport is a document travel not the proof of citizen ship . Really ??? . So are they providing this travel document to some people with out being totally convinced that this person is an Indian citizen ?? . It is absurd .

— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) June 24, 2026

‘Never Been Proof Of Citizenship’: MEA On Passport

It all started when a senior official said that an Indian passport is a travel document, not proof of citizenship, during Passport Seva Divas. What’s more is that this was not a fresh policy announcement, but rather a legal position that has been in place for decades. According to a Hindustan Times report, the Indian Passport has always been regarded as a travel document rather than conclusive proof of citizenship.

It is to be noted that Section 20 of the Passports Act allows the Central Government, under exceptional circumstances and in public interest, to issue a passport or travel document even to someone who is not an Indian citizen. This provision explains why the passport cannot, in strict legal terms, be treated as definitive proof of citizenship. Furthermore, the Bombay High Court, in a 2013 ruling, held that merely possessing a passport does not conclusively prove that someone holds Indian citizenship.