Declare someone foreigner after analysing all evidence: Gauhati HC

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has held that any opinion declaring a person foreigner by a tribunal ought to be given after analyzing all the relevant evidence that may be produced by the proceedee and not by way of default.
The bench of Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice Nani Tagia held this on Friday while dealing a petition filed by one Kulsam Nessa challenging an impugned ex-parte order by a foreigners' tribunal in Darrang in 2019 declaring her a foreigner of post 1971-stream. The tribunal in its order had held that the petitioner had failed to produce any reliable and trustworthy document before it to prove her citizenship in spite of giving adequate opportunities. The high court now has directed the police to release the petitioner who has been languishing in Tezpur Central Jail since November 12, 2021 on bail on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 5,000 with one surety.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted before the high court that the petitioner did not receive any notice from the tribunal asking her to appear before it. The counsel also drew attention of the court to the copies of the voters' lists of 1959 and 1966, where the name of the petitioner's projected grandparents appeared, along with copies of the certificate issued by the gaon burah (village head) of Dalgaon Grant and photocopies of the voters lists of the year 1979 and 1997, where the petitioner's projected father's name appeared, which are sufficient to establish her citizenship.
Hearing the petition, the high court said, "In a normal proceeding before a court of law, in spite of any adverse finding, the person will continue to enjoy the rights as a citizen. Though a proceeding under the Foreigners' Tribunal is merely quasi-judicial in nature, yet an adverse opinion by the tribunal that the proceedee is a foreigner almost seals the fate of the proceedee as far as the issue of citizenship is concerned."
Citizenship key to enjoyment of rights: Court
The Bench observed, "Citizenship is one of the most important rights of a person in today's world. It is the key to enjoyment of the rights guaranteed by the law of the land. It is through citizenship that a person can enjoy and enforce fundamental rights and other legal rights conferred by the Constitution and other statutes, without which a person cannot lead a meaningful life with dignity."
The Bench further observed: "A person stripped of citizenship could be rendered a stateless person, if any other country refuses to accept him or her as its citizen. Such is the overarching significance and importance of citizenship to a person. Therefore, any such proceeding which has the potential of depriving citizenship, ought to be accordingly, examined from that perspective also."