Gauhati high court asks Assam government to review decisions passed by foreigners tribunals

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati high court has asked the Assam government to review the decisions passed by foreigners tribunals in the state.

The Gauhati high court, while noting an Assam government affidavit, stated that in almost 85% cases, those who were declared suspected illegal immigrants were later found to be Indian citizens.

The order was issued by a bench comprising justices Achintya Malla Bujor Barua and Mitali Thakuria while hearing a petition by Forhad Ali.

Forhad Ali, hailing from Bongaigaon district in Assam, was declared foreigner by a tribunal in October 2019.

The tribunal had declared Forhad Ali as a foreigner based on minor discrepancies in the name of his father in the documents he submitted during the NRC process.

The high court stated that there could be minor discrepancies in the names, but it couldn’t be the sole basis of declaring Forhad as a foreigner.

The high court bench expressed concern that in many cases, people might have been declared as foreigners without citing reasons or properly analysing the documents on record.

Similarly, foreigners could have been wrongly declared as Indians by the tribunals, the court said.

“We require the secretary to the government of Assam in the home department to conduct a departmental review of all such references that had been answered by the tribunals declaring the proceedees to be citizens,” the HC order stated.