Mumbai, Aug 26 (PTI) The Bombay High Court has noted a "concerning pattern" of foreign nationals infiltrating borders and fraudulently obtaining documents like Aadhaar and PAN cards to claim Indian citizenship, and urged the Centre to take immediate steps to address the issue.

This pattern underscores a serious gap in inter‑agency coordination and document verification, and in a few cases, such persons have also indulged in anti-national activities, a bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Kamal Khata noted, stressing the need to trace and deport such people on priority.

It ordered the central government's concerned department to consider effecting necessary amendments in the Aadhaar Act to assist investigating agencies to promptly trace, deport and prevent re-entry of such persons who have infiltrated the border and/or obtained forged documents to secure Indian citizenship.

The bench, in the order passed last month, said it has observed a "concerning pattern" where foreign nationals have infiltrated India's border, fraudulently obtained basic documents to conceal their true identity and subsequently procured Aadhaar cards to claim Indian citizenship.

"This pattern reflects a critical gap in inter-agency coordination and document verification procedures," the bench said, adding there have to be concerted efforts by all the state and central agencies to trace out and deport such foreign nationals on a priority basis.

The availability of Aadhaar cards obtained through fraudulent means creates cascading vulnerabilities across identity, immigration and security systems, necessitating urgent and coordinated institutional response, said the HC order, a copy of which was made available recently.

The court also emphasised the need for the investigation in such cases to be completed within a stipulated time period, as a delay in these procedures cannot and should not inure to the benefits of infiltrators.

It was imperative for the government to set up a procedure to deal with issues such as human trafficking and border infiltration, considering the enormity of the problem and the need to resolve the same with utmost expedition, the bench said.

The court passed the order on a plea filed by the Maharashtra government seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to disclose identity information and authentication record of one Majid Khan Shah, a resident of Afghanistan.

He had allegedly overstayed in India after his visa validity period and later destroyed his original passport and assumed a false identity as Miraj Tahir Khan.

The man also obtained forged and fabricated identity documents such as a PAN card, Aadhaar card and a school leaving certificate. Using these documents, he procured an Indian passport.

In 2019, the city police registered a case against Khan and several others who had helped him prepare the fake documents.

Additional public prosecutor Jayesh Yagnik told the court that cases of illegal border infiltration, followed by fraudulent Aadhaar Card procurement, pose systemic security threats.

The court ordered the UIDAI to immediately furnish the necessary documents submitted by Khan at the time of his Aadhaar enrollment within two weeks to the city police.

The competent immigration authorities shall also initiate deportation proceedings against Khan within four weeks, the HC ordered. PTI SP GK