# MEA’s passport stance breaks law, says ex-SC judge 2026-08-08T20:02:40+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet In June 2026, the Ministry of External Affairs declared that an Indian passport is only a travel document, not proof of citizenship. That statement, criticised by former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur, creates a legal conflict with the Passports Act, 1967. Section 6(2)(a) of that Act requires a passport officer to verify citizenship before issuing the document. The MEA's position makes that provision meaningless, argues a LiveLaw analysis. Justice Lokur warned that the move opens the door to arbitrary “doubtful citizen” proceedings. Local officials who handle passport verification, ration cards and land records now have no clear standard. The burden falls hardest on internal migrants and those with weak paper trails. Meanwhile, foreign missions still trust the Indian passport as a citizenship document, creating an asymmetry where the same paper is authoritative abroad but not at home. ## Coverage - livelaw.in Tags: citizenship act, doubtful citizen, fundamental rights, Justice Lokur, MEA, passports act Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/meas-passport-stance-breaks-law-says-ex-sc-judge/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/meas-passport-stance-breaks-law-says-ex-sc-judge/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.