SC stays deportation of four declared foreigners by Assam tribunals

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the deportation of four women declared foreigners by tribunals in Assam, Live Law reported.

The bench issued notice to the Centre, the Assam government and the Election Commission, seeking their reply on the separate pleas within a month, The New Indian Express reported.

The pleas

Saleha Khatun, has been held at the Goalpara detention camp since March 2, The Indian Express reported. The 50-year-old said that a tribunal at Darrang had declared her a foreigner.

The Gauhati High Court had upheld the order by the foreigners tribunal.

The foreigners tribunals in Assam are quasi-judicial bodies that adjudicate on matters of citizenship based on lineage and a 1971 cut-off date. They rely primarily on documents submitted by persons to establish their family’s residency in Assam or India before 1971.

Those declared foreigners by the tribunals have the option to appeal the decision before the High Court or the Supreme Court.

Foreigners’ tribunals have been accused of arbitrariness and bias, and declaring persons foreigners on the basis of minor spelling mistakes, a lack of documents or lapses in memory.

Saleha Khatun stated in her plea that she had submitted evidence before the tribunal showing that she is the daughter of Indian citizens who were in the pre-1971 voter list of Nagabandha village in Nagaon district, Live Law reported.

The woman also stated that she had submitted other evidence such as linkage certificates, her family’s electoral documents and the verbal testimony of her sister to establish continuity of her residence and lineage.

However, the tribunal had in December rejected her claim on the grounds of human errors, and discrepancies in the family details and age, Live Law reported. It also rejected her linkage certificates because the authority that issued the certificate had not been examined, the legal news outlet reported.

Sarbhanu Begum, another woman who is also at the detention camp, stated in her petition that her father’s name was in the pre-1971 voter roll of Barkur village in Darrang district, Live Law reported. She added that she had also submitted documents and testimonies of witnesses to establish continuity of her residence and lineage.

The tribunal had reportedly rejected her claim because of a spelling mistake in her name and a discrepancy in an electoral detail relating to her husband’s name.

Musstt Nureza Begum stated that she was illiterate and had signed a register at the tribunal upon receiving a notice, according to Live Law. She argued that she had been declared a foreigner by the tribunal in an alleged ex-parte order, or a judgement issued by a court without notifying or hearing the opposing party.

The High Court had rejected the pleas by Sarbhanu Begum and Nureza Begum seeking the quashing of the tribunals’ orders.

Basiram Nessa stated that she had submitted as evidence a voter list from 1965 that included the name of her grandfather and one from 1989 mentioning her father. Nessa said that she had also submitted documents issued by the village chief certifying that she is the daughter of Zakir Hussain and had married Osman Gani, Live Law reported.

However, the tribunal held that she had failed to prove that she was the daughter of Hussain.

She had approached the Supreme Court alleging that the tribunal had not considered the documents she had submitted. In 2020, the court allowed her to file a review petition before the High Court, where she did not get a relief.

The Supreme Court will hear the matter next on July 16.

Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.