Court Sets Aside Tribunal Order Declaring Assam Resident A Foreigner

A division bench of Gauhati High Court ruled on a plea filed by Asoruddin, a resident of Morigaon district of Assam, against the Tribunal's order declaring him as a foreigner in a hearing where he could not be present.

The Gauhati High Court, in a landmark judgement, has set aside an ex-parte order of the Foreigners' Tribunal (FT) declaring a Morigaon resident as a foreigner on grounds that citizenship is an important right and should be decided by the Tribunal on the basis of material evidences. A Division Bench, comprising Justices Manish Choudhary and N Kotiswar Singh, ruled on a petition filed by Asoruddin, a resident of Moirabari of Morigaon district, against the Tribunal's order declaring him as a foreigner in a hearing where he could not be present. The judges, in their order passed on September 9, pointed out the petitioner has drawn the Court's attention to the voters' lists of 1965,1970 and 1971, where the names of his grandparents, parents and the petitioner himself have been included as voters living in Sahariapam, Mouza-Moirabari. The court ruled that there were sufficient documents and evidence to prove that the petitioner is an Indian citizen and set aside the ex-parte order declaring him a foreigner dated April 26, 2011 passed by the Foreigners' Tribunal (2nd), Morigaon.