5 months ago
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GUWAHATI
The Gauhati High Court has asked the Assam government to constitute a nodal authority for a person declared a foreigner to report to or be produced before.
The court on December 13 heard a writ petition by Kuddus Ali, who challenged the 2017 judgment of a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in western Assam’s Barpeta declaring him a non-citizen. The argument in the case revolved around the rights and entitlements of a person declared a foreigner during the period of his stay in India, particularly in Assam.
Judges Achintya Malla Bujor Barua and Robin Phukan dismissed the petition while observing that they did “not notice any illegality or unreasonableness” in the view of the FT and that Mr. Ali would have to be declared a foreigner who entered Assam from the specified territory (Bangladesh) after March 25, 1971.
The date is the cut-off point for the detection and deportation of “illegal migrants” or foreigners in Assam.
State’s Additional Advocate-General G. Mazumdar said a declared foreigner would have to return the documents issued to him as an Indian citizen and the authorities would have to take necessary steps such as deleting his name from the voters’ list, and taking over his land, and prohibiting him from continuing in any post, position, or status he may have incorrectly acquired while claiming to be an Indian citizen.
To this, the court observed: “In order to coordinate all such requirements, we are of the view that it would be appropriate for the Chief Secretary to the government of Assam to appoint a nodal authority who may exercise inter-departmental jurisdiction for doing the needful as well as coordinate with the other departments for foreclosing the declared foreigner from retaining any such documents he is no longer entitled to.”
It said the declared foreigner should report to such a nodal authority whose jurisdiction would include an arrangement with the Election Commission and other Central government departments.
“If the declared foreigner does not cooperate for such requirement, or merely disappears, appropriate action under the law should be forthwith taken, including taking him to custody for completing the process,” the court said.
The court further said that the provisions of the order recognising the right to work, right to education, right to shelter, right to food, right to health, and right to education “will be applicable to only those declared foreigners who had earlier incorrectly claimed to be Indian citizens” and would not apply to persons involved in any further migration that may take place, or had already taken place, in Assam or elsewhere in India.
“Any such other migrants would be subjected to the law dealing with illegal migrants, which may also include the deportation,” it said.
