by Maktoob
Despite producing 15 documents, including records from the 1951 National Register of Citizens (NRC), multiple electoral rolls, a school certificate, PAN card and Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC), the Gauhati High Court has upheld a Foreigners’ Tribunal order declaring an Assam resident a foreigner, holding that he failed to establish his Indian citizenship.
A Bench of Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Shamima Jahan on Tuesday observed that the petitioner had failed to discharge the burden cast upon him under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, which requires a person to prove that they are not a foreigner.
The court also held that oral testimony alone was insufficient to establish that the petitioner was the same individual whose name appeared in electoral rolls from the 1990s and later years.
“Though the petitioner had exhibited 15 documents as exhibits, the same does not appear to help the petitioner to establish that he has been able to discharge his burden as required under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 to prove that he is not a foreigner but an Indian citizen,” the court said.
The petitioner,Aminul Hoque, a daily-wage labourer residing in a rented house, challenged a February 28, 2019 order of the Foreigners’ Tribunal after alleging that an investigating officer had submitted an unfair inquiry report, leading to his being declared a foreigner.
The petitioner argued that he is an Indian citizen by birth and traced his family’s lineage through official records dating back to the 1951 National Register of Citizens (NRC).
He claimed his father’s name, along with those of his grandparents and other family members, appeared in the 1951 NRC in Charai Khasara village in Goalpara district.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.