The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the deportation of a Muslim woman declared a “foreigner” by the Foreigners Tribunal, a decision upheld by the Gauhati High Court in February 2025, despite her submission of documentary evidence.
In response to a plea challenging the High Court decision, the bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Vinod Chandran directed the Union Government that “no coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioner”, Jaynab Bibi, who is represented by advocates Fuzail Ahmed and Akanksha Rai.
Bibi argued that she is an Indian citizen by birth, and has lived her entire life at Muamari village under Dhing Mouza, Nagaon district of Assam.
The petitioner produced documentary evidence, including her grandfather’s name in the 1951 NRC list, her parents’ names in the voters’ lists of 1965 and 1970, and her own name in subsequent electoral rolls, along with that of her husband. Yet she was declared an “illegal immigrant”, the petitioner argued.
The petitioner pointed out that both the Tribunal and the High Court overlooked gram panchayat certificates that established her lineage, while drawing attention to the SC’s previous rulings that such documents, if authentic, were admissible.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
