Afghan with Indian IDs? Madras High Court Awaits Assam Tribunal’s Decision on Citizenship Dispute
The man allegedly secured Aadhaar, passport, voter ID and other Indian documents, while Afghan passports, visas and immigration records identified him as Lahor Abdul Qayum;
Madras High Court
A writ petition challenging the detention of one Md. Dilowar Khan has brought before the Madras High Court an unusual dispute over nationality. While the petitioner asserts he is a native of Assam, law enforcement contends he is an Afghan national who obtained Indian identity documents by fraudulent means. The matter is being heard by a division bench comprising Justices M.S. Ramesh and V. Lakshminarayanan.
Khan has challenged his detention at the Tiruchi special camp for foreigners. He was arrested by the Chennai police at the international airport on December 15, 2024, after immigration officials flagged anomalies in his passport.
Investigators from the fake passport wing of the Chennai Central Crime Branch (CCB) booked him under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Passports Act, 1967. The case was triggered by a complaint from an Assistant Foreigners Regional Registration Officer, who noticed that the man’s Indian passport carried two Afghan visas. On cross-verifying the passport details with the Bureau of Immigration’s bio web database, officials identified him as Lahor Abdul Qayum, a citizen of Afghanistan.
According to the records, Qayum had first entered India in September 2018 on a tourist visa and returned in December the same year. He re-entered later on a medical visa with a new Afghan passport, bearing a different date of birth. Authorities allege that after this visit he settled in Assam and went on to fraudulently secure an Aadhaar card, birth certificate, voter ID, PAN card, driving licence and even an Indian passport.
The Tamil Nadu government ordered his detention at the Tiruchi camp through a Government Order issued on February 6, 2025. Though the CCB had arrested him, he was granted bail a week later.
Khan, however, insists that he is an Indian citizen, born on March 20, 1986, in Nalbari, Assam, to Musha Khan and Jarina Begum. His counsel, advocate M. Velmurugan, argued that his birth certificate was issued belatedly in 2006 due to his parents’ lack of awareness. He claims to have secured an Aadhaar card, driving licence and passport in 2021, and to have voted in the Assam assembly elections of 2021 and the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. He further stated that he runs a licensed money lending business in Assam under the 1934 Money Lenders Act.
The State, represented by Additional Public Prosecutor A. Damodaran, countered that the CCB had already written to the Regional Passport Office in Guwahati to verify if his fingerprints match those taken when the Indian passport was issued. Additional Solicitor General AR.L. Sundaresan, along with central government counsel Gopika Nambiar, has been asked to coordinate with the Guwahati office and share details with the Chennai police.
Since the determination of nationality falls within the jurisdiction of foreigners’ tribunals, and such tribunals currently function only in Assam, the Tamil Nadu government has referred the case to the Nalbari Collector for forwarding to the tribunal.
The bench adjourned the writ petition for 12 weeks to await the tribunal’s decision.
Case Title: Md Dilowar Khan vs. The Union of India and 7 Others
Order Date: August 29, 2025
Bench: Justices M.S. Ramesh and V. Lakshminarayanan