Abdul Khalek v. The Union of India and 6 Ors

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010020662018 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/585/2018o ABDULoKHALEKo S/OoLT.oAHEDoALIo@oWAHEDoALIo VILL-oHATIKHUTIo P.S.oKACHUA,oPIN-o782426,oDIST.oNAGAON,oASSAM VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo6oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoINDIA,o oHOMEoDEPARTMENT,oNEWoDELHI-1,oINDIA. 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oHOMEoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-6. 3:THEoSTATEoCOo-ORDINATOR oNATIONALoREGISTERoOFoCITIZENSo(NRC) oASSAM oACHYUToPLAZA oBHANGAGARH oGUWAHATI-5 oASSAM 4:ASSAMoSTATEoELECTIONoCOMMISSION oTOoBEoREP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONER oBELTOLA-oBASISTHAoROAD o oHOUSEFEDoCOMPLEX Page No.# 2/4 GUWAHATI-6 ASSAM 5:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER NAGAON DIST. NAGAON

ASSAM 6:THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (B) NAGAON DIST. NAGAON ASSAM 7:THE STANDING COUSEL FOREIGNERS TRIBUNALS FOR NAGAON DISTRICT ASSA Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. E AHMED Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I.

BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ROBIN PHUKAN O R D E R

24.05.2023 (A.M. Bujor Barua, J)

Heard Mr. Z Hammad, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. L Devi, learned CGC appearing on behalf of respondents in the Union of India as well as for the authorities in the NRC, Mr. G Sarma, learned counsel for the State respondents in the Home Department of Government of Assam, Mr. AI Ali, learned counsel for the Election Commission of India and Mr. NK Das, learned Page No.# 3/4 counsel for the Deputy Commissioner, Nagaon.

¶2The petitioner Abdul Khalek had been referred to the Foreigners Tribunal No. 2, Nagaon for rendering an opinion as to whether he is a person who entered the State of Assam from the specified territory on or after 25.03.1971 resulting in registration of F.T. Case No. 1967/2011, wherein an opinion dated

30.11.2017 was given that the petitioner is a foreigner. Being aggrieved, this writ petition is instituted.

¶3In the writ proceeding, the petitioner relies on the voters list of 1965 of village Kadamoni Pather, police station Dhing in the Nagaon district, which contains the name of Ahed Ali son of Md. Jafar Sheikh at serial No. 375. Reliance is also placed on the voters list of 1970 of village Kadamoni Pather, which contains the name of A. Khalek, son of Ahed at serial No. 512. The petitioner claims that Abdul Khalek son of Ahed of the voters list of 1970 of village Kadamoni Pather is the petitioner himself.

¶4If Abdul Khalek of the voters list of 1970 of village Kadamoni Pather is the petitioner himself, the petitioner has discharged the burden under section 9 of the Foreigners Act that he is an Indian citizen inasmuch as, his own name appears in the voters list of 1970 of village Kadamoni Pather.

¶5In view of the above, the matter is remanded back to the Tribunal to examine as to whether A. Khalek of the voters list of 1970 of village Kadamoni Pather and the present writ petitioner Abdul Khalek are one and the same person. The respondents in the Home Department may make their own verification as required by the law and submit a report before the Tribunal. Upon doing the needful, the Tribunal may pass its reasoned order.

¶6If the reasoned order is in favour of the petitioner, the same shall prevail Page No.# 4/4 over the earlier opinion dated 30.11.2017 and if it goes against the petitioner, consequence as per law shall follow.

¶7The petitioner shall appear before the concerned Foreigners Tribunal on

10.07.2023. Till the reasoned order is passed, no coercive action be taken against the petitioner.

¶8The writ petition is allowed as indicated above.

¶9Send back the LCR immediately.

JUDGE JUDGE Comparing Assistant