Afaz Uddin v. The Union of India and 6 Ors

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010021782023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/617/2023o AFAZoUDDINo LT.oRAHIMoALI,oR/O-oVILL-oSONAPURoBLOCK,oP.S.oBIHPURIYA,oDIST.-o LAKHIMPUR,oASSAM,oPIN-o787054 VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo6oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoINDIA,oMINISTRYoOFoHOMEo AFFAIRS,oNORTHoBLOCK,oCENTRALoSECRETARIAT,oNEWoDELHI,oPIN-o 110001 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oHOMEoDEPTT. oDISPURooGUWAHATI oPIN-o781006 3:THEoELECTIONoCOMMISISONoOFoINDIA oREP.oBYoTHEoCHIEFoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONERoOFoINDIA oNIRVACHANoSADAN oASHOKAoROAD oNEWoDELHI oPIN-o110001 4:THEoSTATEoCOORDINATOR oNATIONALoREGISTERoOFoCITIZEN oASSAM oACHYUToPLAZA oG.S.ROAD oBHANGAGARH oGUWAHATI oKAMRUPo(M) oASSAM oPIN-o781005 Page No.# 2/4 5:THE DY. COMMISSIONER LAKHIMPUR NORTH LAKHIMPUR DIST.- LAKHIMPUR ASSAM PIN-787001 6:THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (BORDER) LAKHIMPUR NORTH LAKHIMPUR DIST.- LAKHIMPUR ASSAM PIN-787001 7:THE FOREIGNERS REGISTRATION OFFICER OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE LAKHIMPUR P.O. NORTH LAKHIMPUR DIST.- LAKHIMPUR ASSAM PIN-78700 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. S N TAMULI Advocate for the Respondent : DY.S.G.I.

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

08.02.2023 (A.M. Bujor Barua, J)

Heard Mr. SN Tamuli, learned counsel for the petitioner, Ms. L Devi, learned counsel for the respondents No. 1 and 4 being the authorities in the Union of India and State NRC, respectively, Ms. A Verma, learned counsel for the respondents No. 2 and 6 being the authorities in the Home Department of the Government of Assam, Mr. AI Ali, learned counsel for the respondent No. 3 being the authorities in the Election Commission of India and Ms. U Das, learned counsel for the respondent No. 5 being the Deputy Commissioner, Lakhimpur. Page No.# 3/4 The respondent No. 7 stands deleted from the array of respondents.

¶2The petitioner was referred for an opinion as to whether he entered the State of Assam subsequent to 25.03.1971 which resulted in registration of FT Case No. 392/1990 before the Foreigners Tribunal, Lakhimpur at North Lakhimpur. Being aggrieved by an ex-parte order dated 01.06.1993 in FT Case No. 392/1990, this writ petition is instituted.

¶3No explanation is available as to why the petitioner did not approach the Court between 1993 and the year 2023. All that is stated is that the occasion had arisen for the petitioner to approach the Court as of now as earlier the authorities were not after him.

¶4The same cannot be a good and acceptable explanation in law. But, however, considering the interest of justice, the matter stands remanded back to the Foreigners Tribunal, Lakhimpur at North Lakhimpur for a fresh adjudication on the issue as to whether the petitioner is a person who entered the State of Assam subsequent to 25.03.1971 and because of the laches on the part of the petitioner, a cost of Rs. 7000/- be paid by the petitioner before the District Legal Service Authority of Lakhimpur district.

¶5The petitioner will appear before the Tribunal on 09.03.2023 and considering the past conduct of the petitioner, he shall not unnecessarily seek adjournment before the Tribunal and the Tribunal shall decide the matter as expeditiously as possible without any delay.

¶6In the writ petition, the petitioner refers to a voters list of 1965 of village Sonapur of Lakhimpur district to show that his name appears at Serial No. 209 of the said voters list. If it is so, the petitioner shall also establish that the Afaz Uddin son of Rahim at serial No. 209 of the voters list of 1965 and the petitioner Page No.# 4/4 who is referred before the Tribunal are one and the same person. The writ petition is allowed to the extent as indicated above.

JUDGE JUDGE Comparing Assistant