Fosirun Nessa @ Must. Fatima Begum v. The Union of India

ORDER Date : 29.05.2023 (AM Bujor Barua, J)

Heard Mr. FA Hassan, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. L Devi, learned counsel for the respondent no. 1 being the authorities under the Union of India, Ms. A Verma, learned counsel for the respondents no. 2 and 4 being the authorities under the Home Department of Government of Assam and Ms. U Das, learned counsel for the respondent no. 3 being the Deputy Commissioner, Sivsagar.

¶2The petitioner Fosirun Nessa @ Fatima Begum had been referred to the Foreigner's Tribunal, Jorhat for rendering an opinion as to whether she is a person who entered the State of Assam from the specified territory on or after

25.03.1971, resulting in registration of Case No. FT/SVR/203/14. The Tribunal rendered an opinion dated 07.09.2017 declaring the petitioner to be a foreigner.

¶3Being aggrieved, this writ petition is instituted.

¶4In the writ proceeding the petitioner relies upon the voters' list of 1966 of village Modertoli Mikir Gaon which contains the name of Arman Ali, S/O Latai Mia and it is claimed that Arman Ali is the grandfather of the petitioner. Further reference is made upon the voters list of 1989 of village Modertoli Mikir Gaon which contains the name of Karim, S/O Arman at Sl. No. 131 and it is claimed that Karim is the father of the petitioner. To substantiate that Karim is the father of the petitioner reliance is placed on the birth certificate of the petitioner which Page No.# 3/4 contains the information that Fosirun Nessa is the daughter of Karim Ali of village Modertoli Mikir Gaon as well as a certificate dated 21.01.1993 of the Circle Officer, Hojai Revenue Circle which contains the information that Karim Ali, S/O Lt. Arman Ali, R/O Modertoli Mikir Gaon was a victim of a communal violence on 08.12.1992. By relying on the aforesaid material, the petitioner claims that the burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners' Act, 1946 had been discharged.

¶5In view of the above, the matter stands remanded back to the Tribunal to examine the voters' list of 1966 of village Modertoli Mikir Gaon containing the name of Arman Ali, S/O Latai Mia as well as the voters' list of 1989 of village Modertoli Mikir Gaon which contains the name of Karim, S/O Arman. If Karim is the son of Arman Ali of the voters' list of 1966 of village Modertoli Mikir Gaon prima facie he had discharged the burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners' Act, 1946 and if by virtue of the birth certificate the petitioner Fosirun Nessa is the daughter of Karim, S/O Arman of the 1989 voters' list of village Modertoli Mikir Gaon, the petitioner may have again discharged the burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners' Act, 1946. But however, we have noticed that a copy of the jambandi available as Annexure-4, page-19 to the writ petition which shows that in place of Arman Ali the land was mutated in the name of Sarafat Ali and not Karim.

¶6The petitioner would also explain the aforesaid situation before the Tribunal and the Tribunal shall examine the same. Upon doing the needful, a reasoned order be passed by the Tribunal.

¶7The petitioner to appear before the Tribunal on 01.07.2023.

¶8If the reasoned order is in favour of the petitioner, the same shall prevail Page No.# 4/4 over the opinion dated 07.09.2017 passed in Case No. FT/SVR/203/14 and if against, consequence under the law is applicable to the petitioner.

¶9Till the reasoned order is passed, no coercive action be taken against the petitioner.

Send back the LCR. Writ petition stands disposed of in the above terms.

JUDGE JUDGE

Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010004142018 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/137/2018o FOSIRUNoNESSAo@oMUST.oFATIMAoBEGUMo D/O.oKARIMoALIoALIASoMD.oABDULoKARIM,oW/O.oMD.oMOJIBURoRAHMAN,o R/O.oVILL.oMODERTOLI,oP.S.oDOBOKA,oDIST.oHOJAI,oASSAM,oPIN-782440 VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFoINDIA,o THEoMINISTRYoOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS,oSHASTRIoBHAWAN,oTILOKoMARG,o NEWoDELHI-1. 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oHOMEoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006. 3:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oSIVASAGAR oDIST.oSIVASAGAR oASSAM. 4:THEoSUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICEo(BORDER) oSIVASAGAR oDIST.oSIVASAGAR oASSAo AdvocateoforotheoPetitionerooooo:oMR.oSoCoBISWASo AdvocateoforotheoRespondento:oASSTT.S.G.I.oo Page No.# 2/4 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ROBIN PHUKAN