The Assam Government, in an effort to address
the shortcomings identified by the Gauhati High Court and to avoid wrong
detection of Indian citizens as foreigners, is mulling to commence a crash
course for members of its Foreigners’ Tribunals.
These tribunals are specialized
quasi-judicial bodies tasked with detecting the citizenship status of
individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants within Assam.
The judicial intervention by the Gauhati
High Court came after it came to fore that a substantial number of individuals
previously declared as foreigners were later found to be Indian citizens.
The court’s order, issued on December 3,
highlighted concerns regarding the accuracy of the tribunal’s decisions and the
processes followed in reaching them.
It was highlighted that in approximately
85 per cent of cases reviewed, the individuals involved were eventually
recognized as citizens, casting doubt on the initial judgments of the
tribunals.
A specific case that brought attention
to the issue involved Bongaigaon’s Forhad Ali, who was declared a foreigner due
to discrepancies in his father’s name across various documents.
The High Court underlined that minor
inconsistencies in names should not be the sole criterion for such a serious
determination as one’s nationality. The court made compulsory a thorough
re-examination of Ali’s records, including voter lists, before making a final
decision.
In response to these facts, the High
Court has instructed the Assam Home Department to hold a comprehensive review
of all orders passed by the Foreigners’ Tribunals.
The Assam Home and Political department
are mulling a crash course for the FT members at the National Law University
and Judicial Academy, Assam (NLUJAA), in Guwahati for which a meeting is expected
to take place later this week, said insiders.
Currently, the Home department has a gigantic
task of scrutinizing around 97,000 pending FT cases, mainly those lacking
adequate justification or analysis of evidence, and take appropriate measures
where necessary.
Moreover, the review outcomes will be
made public, ensuring transparency and informing the residents of Assam about
the issue of illegal immigration.
NE Watch Desk
