Khan’s advocate Muzaffarullah Khan said the UIDAI has no powers to question any person’s nationality (Representational) Khan’s advocate Muzaffarullah Khan said the UIDAI has no powers to question any person’s nationality (Representational)

Acting on a complaint, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has asked a Hyderabad man to prove his citizenship, alleging that his Aadhaar could be fake. Md Sattar Khan of Talab Katta in Charminar has been served the notice dated February 3 under Rule 30 (chapter VI) of the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016 and has to appear before the inquiry officer on February 20.

The notice from the UIDAI regional office, signed by Deputy Director/Inquiry Officer Amita Bindroo, said an inquiry has been ordered in order to ascertain the veracity of a complaint which alleged that Khan was not an Indian national and that he has obtained Aadhaar through fake pretenses, fake claims and false documents. During the appearance, Khan will have to present all necessary documents in original to prove his claims of Indian citizenship and “to prove that you have entered the territory of India legally and your stay is valid”.

The notice also warns against failure to appear in person and asks Khan to produce the documents in original, failing which his Aadhaar number will be deactivated.

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Speaking to indianexpress.com, Khan’s advocate Muzaffarullah Khan said the UIDAI has no powers to question any person’s nationality. “Questioning of nationality is done by another department under the Central government. Aadhaar authority has no such powers,” he said. However, he said that since this is an inquiry they cannot go to court and file a writ petition. “If any order is passed in the inquiry, we will approach the appropriate court of law and decide future course of action,” said the advocate.

The advocate said his client and his two brothers and three sisters were all born in Ashoka colony under Allwyn housing colony in Sanathnagar. “Their father Aziz Baig used to work in Allwyn company in Sanathnagar. Afterwards they shifted their residence to Hafiz Baba Nagar in Kanchanbagh. After the death of his father, the mother receives the pension,” the lawyer said. “Sattar Khan is married and currently lives at Talabkatta locality near Charminar with his four children. He is an auto-driver by profession. He cannot read and write any language as he has not gone to any school. He is in possession of electoral photo ID card, and passport,” he added.

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Activist and independent researcher Srinivas Kodali tweeted, “Aadhaar shifted the burden of proof on to citizens instead of the state. we are all duplicates, we are all frauds, we are all foreigners, we are all guilty until proven otherwise.” Khan’s lawyer had reached out to Kodali.

Amjed Ullah Khan, spokesperson of Majlis Bachao Tehreek, pointed out that the letter does not specify who the complainant was and on what basis was Khan’s Citizenship being challenged by UIDAI. He said, “I have personally checked all documents of Khan and his entire family. All are Hyderabadi and all are having ration cards, EPIC’s, Passport’s and more over his father has worked in a government-owned PSU and his mother is a pensioner.”

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