GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has quashed the order of a foreigners tribunal in Dhubri declaring a woman a foreign citizen, on the ground that the verification report of the authorities was incomplete and that the reference made against the petitioner was untenable in law.
A division bench of Justice Achintya Malla Bujor Barua and Justice Robin Phukan, while setting aside the impugned order of the tribunal, observed, “Considering the aspect that the verification report itself is incomplete to lead to any conclusion that the petitioner is a person who entered the state of Assam subsequent to March 25, 1971, and that the evidence of Ram Proshad Rabidas, who could prove his citizenship had deposed that the petitioner is his daughter remained uncontroverted, we are of the view that the reference made against the petitioner itself would be untenable in law.”
The petitioner, Bharati Rabidas, was referred to a foreigner’s tribunal in Dhubri for an opinion as to whether she was a person who entered Assam from the specified territory after March 25, 1971.
The tribunal, vide order dated September 18, 2018, gave an opinion that the petitioner was a foreign citizen who entered Assam subsequent to March 25, 1971.
However, aggrieved by the order of the tribunal, the petitioner had filed a writ petition in Gauhati High Court.
The court observed that the petitioner relied upon the “Voters’ List of 1966 of area number 943 Mouza Balrampur, Kooch Behar district the state of West Bengal wherein, at serial number 199, the name of Rabidas Ramprasad, son of Sahadeb was mentioned.”
It was further observed that Rabidas deposed before the tribunal that the petitioner was his daughter from his first wife and had been born and brought up in Coochbehar district of West Bengal.
The court noted that during cross-examination, Rabidas was not confronted with any question or suggestion that the petitioner was not his daughter.
“All that the authorities had asked in the cross-examination is the age of Ram Proshad Rabidas, how many daughters he has, and where he was born. It being so, the evidence in chief of Ram Proshad Rabidas that the proceedee Bharati Rabidas is his daughter remains uncontroverted,” it observed.
The court further observed that the verification report of the authorities was incomplete as no information was recorded in the report, which might indicate the reason why the authorities thought that the petitioner was a foreigner.
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Additionally, the court noted that in the verification report, the column provided for the place of birth was not filled up by the authorities.
“Accordingly, the reference as well as the opinion, dated September 18, 2018, are interfered with and set aside. The petitioner is declared to be a citizen of India and further she should be entitled to all the rights and privileges under the law,” the court observed.
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