Haripad Karmakar v. The Union of India and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 23.06.2023 (AM Bujor Barua, J)

Heard Mr. Z Hammad, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. L Devi, learned counsel for the respondents no. 1 and 3 being the authorities under the Union of India and NRC respectively, Mr. G Sarma, learned counsel for the respondents no. 2 and 6 being the authorities under the Home Department of Government of Assam, Ms. U Das, learned counsel for the respondent no. 5 being the Deputy Commissioner, Morigaon and Mr. T Pegu, learned counsel for Page No.# 3/4 the respondent no. 4 being the authorities under the Election Commission of India.

¶2The petitioner Haripad Karmakar had been referred to the Foreigners' Tribunal No. 5, Morigaon for rendering an opinion as to whether he is a foreigner within the meaning of Foreigners Act, 1946, resulting in registration of Case No. F.T. 129/2016. The Tribunal rendered an opinion dated 30.08.2017 declaring the petitioner to be a foreigner.

¶3Being aggrieved, this writ petition is instituted.

¶4In the writ proceeding the petitioner relies upon a transfer certificate issued by the Headmaster of the Bagodi Govt. Aided H.E. School at village Bhella in the present Barpeta district which contains the information that Haripada Karmakar S/O Jagadish Ch. Karmakar is a resident of village Pithadi.

¶5In order to verify the authenticity of the information contained in the school certificate, we also required the Education Department to produce the admission register in original of Bagodi Govt. Aided H.E. School. Upon perusal of the admission register in original it is discernable that Haripada Karmakar was admitted in Bagodi Govt. Aided H.E. School on 26.05.1970 meaning thereby his presence in the State of Assam was established to be prior to 25.03.1971.

¶6In view of the above, the matter stands remanded back to the Tribunal to examine the claim of the petitioner. The petitioner may produce any relevant documents which may show that Haripada Karmakar of village Pithadi as referred in the school certificate is otherwise a citizen. Upon doing the needful, the Tribunal to pass a reasoned order.

¶7The petitioner to appear before the Tribunal on 02.08.2023.

¶8If the order of the Tribunal is in favour of the petitioner, the same shall Page No.# 4/4 prevail over the opinion dated 30.08.2017 passed in Case No. F.T. 129/2016 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 GAHC010027302018 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/884/2018o HARIPADoKARMAKARo S/OoLT.oJOGOoDISHoKARMOAKARo@oJAGADISHoCH.oKARMAKARo VILL-MOIRABARI,oP.S.oMOIRABARIo DIST.oMORIGAON,oASSAM,oPINo-o782126. VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo5oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoINDIA,o HOMEoDEPARTMENT,o NEWoDELHI-1,oINDIA. 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oHOMEoDEPARTMENT o DISPUR oGUWAHATI-6. 3:THEoSTATEoCO-ORDINATOR oNATIONALoREGISTERoOFoCITIZENSo(NRC) oASSAM oACHYUToPLAZA oBHANGAGARH oGUWAHATI-5 oASSAM 4:THEoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONoOFoINDIA oTOoBEoREP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONER Page No.# 2/4 ASSAM ELEC. COMMN. BELTOLA BASISTHA ROAD HOUSEFED COMPLEX GUWAHATI -6 ASSAM 5:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MORIGAON DIST. MORIGAON ASSAM 6:THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (B) MORIGAON DIST. MORIGAON ASSA Advocate for the Petitioner : MR E AHMED Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ROBIN PHUKAN