Congress accuses Assam CM's wife of holding multiple foreign passports: What rules say

The run-up to the Assembly elections in Assam has seen a flare-up touching even the families of the chief contenders—Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the Congress state chief, Gaurav Gogoi. In February, Sarma alleged that Gaurav and his wife, a British national, had Pakistan connections, leading to a massive uproar. A 10-day visit to Pakistan by the duo in December 2013 also came under scrutiny.

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Now, the Congress has lashed out at Sarma and his wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, a businesswoman, alleging that the latter holds many foreign passports, including those of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Antigua and Barbuda, and they still have some years before expiry.

Pawan Khera's serious charges against Sarma's wife

The allegations have been made by Pawan Khera, chairman of the media and publicity department of the All India Congress Committee, who in a press conference on Sunday (April 5) said Riniki also owns undeclared assets in Dubai besides holding many passports and is linked to a firm in the US purportedly worth Rs 52,000 crore.

As the Sarmas said they took legal action against Khera over his allegedly baseless charges, and Gaurav also targeting the chief minister, the rules regarding Indian citizenship and passports were being discussed at various quarters.

Citizenship Act and Passports Act

The Citizenship Act of 1955 and the Passports Act of 1967 give insights into how citizenship and passport rules work in India.

Section 9 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, says an Indian citizen automatically loses his/her citizenship if he/she voluntarily acquires citizenship of another country. The Constitution does not allow holding Indian and foreign citizenship simultaneously, either.

Rule 30 of the Citizenship Rules, 1956, stipulates that holding a foreign passport acts as conclusive proof of voluntary acquisition of foreign citizenship, resulting in the automatic termination of Indian citizenship. This regulation, upheld by the Supreme Court in Dipali Katia Chadha vs Union of India case of 1995, enforces India's prohibition of dual citizenship.

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The Passports Act, 1967, on the other hand, says the authorities can impound passports if someone is in “wrongful possession” of the document. The Act’s Section 10 empowers the passport authorities to impound or revoke passports and travel documents.

It says, for instance, “The passport authority may impound or cause to be impounded or revoke a passport or travel document, (a) if the passport authority is satisfied that the holder of the passport or travel document is in wrongful possession thereof.

Section 12 of the Act penalises fraud, hiding, or misuse of passports.

Overall, it is an offence for an Indian citizen to hold more than one valid Indian passport at a single time.

What is 'overseas citizenship'?

One should make a mention of the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) scheme here. It was introduced in 2005 by amending the Citizenship Act, 1955, keeping in view the growing demands for “dual citizenship”, particularly from the diaspora in North America and other developed nations and the Centre’s commitment towards meeting the expectations of Overseas Indians. Launched in 2006, the scheme, however, should not be mistaken as ‘dual citizenship’.

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It does not give political rights, such as right to vote. “The registered Overseas Citizens of India shall not be entitled to the rights conferred on a citizen of India under Article 16 of the Constitution with regard to equality of opportunity in matters of public employment,” says the Ministry of External Affairs.

What govt told RS over multiple passports

Last December, the Ministry of External Affairs replied to a question on the issue of multiple passports in the Rajya Sabha that in the last five years, passport authorities in India and overseas received 1,343 complaints about double/multiple passports.

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“In all such cases, actions such as impounding/revoking of the passports have been taken under the provisions of the Passports Act, 1967,” the government said.

“There are stringent measures to detect individuals applying for more than one passport under the upgraded Passport Seva Project version 2.0.”