Sandu Seikh @ Sandu Miya v. The Union of India and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 22.09.2023 (L.S.Jamir,

J)

Heard Mr. A.Mahmmad, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. L.Devi, learned CGC for the respondent Nos. 1 and 4; Mr. G.Sharma, learned standing counsel, FT for the respondent Nos. 2, 6, 7 and 8; Mr. T.Pegu, learned standing counsel, ECI for the respondent No.3 and Mr. P.Sharma, learned Addl. Senior Govt. Advocate for the respondent No.5.

¶2On reference being made by the Superintendent of Police (B), Darrang, FT(4th) Case No.1041/2015 was registered before the Foreigners Tribunal (4th), Darrang, Mangaldai. Thereafter, notice was served on the proceedee/petitioner and the petitioner appeared before the Tribunal along with his legal counsel and Page No.# 3/5 submitted his written statement. The petitioner also adduced evidence on affidavit along with documents which were relied by him.

¶3The petitioner also exhibited the Voter ID of the DW-1 who is the mother of the petitioner as Exhibit-1 and the Voter List of the year 1966 and 1970 as Exhibits 2 and 3. The Residential Certificate of the petitioner was also exhibited as Exhibit-4.

¶4Thereafter, the Tribunal by order dated 31.03.2016 came to the conclusion that the petitioner came to Assam on or after 1966. Thereafter, the petitioner namely, Md. Sandu Seikh, S/O Late Tyzuddin, Vill-No.3 Shyampur, P.S-Dhula, Dist Darrang was directed to appear before the concerned authority to register his name and his name will be deleted from the Voter List for a period of 10 years from the date of delivery of the order.

¶5It is the case of the petitioner that after the order dated 31.03.2016 was passed, he had no knowledge about the same. However, when the police from Dhula Police Station came to arrest him, the petitioner came to know about the status of his case. Accordingly, the petitioner went to the Tribunal and applied for a certified copy of the order dated 31.03.2016 on 13.11.2019 and received the same on 29.11.2019. After receiving the said order, the petitioner found that he was declared a foreigner of the 01.01.1966 to 25.03.1971 stream and he was directed to appear before the Regional Registrar Office, Darrang, Mangaldai. Accordingly, petitioner approached the said office to register his name on 15.12.2019. However, the said authority declined to register the name Page No.# 4/5 of the petitioner as a foreigner on the ground of delay. Accordingly, petitioner has filed the present writ petition praying for condoning the delay in approaching the concerned authority to register his name in terms of the order dated 31.03.2016 passed in FT (4th) Case No. 1041/2015.

¶6Mr. G.Sharma, learned standing counsel, FT has drawn the attention of this Court to Rule 19 (2) of the Citizenship Rules, 2009 which provides that an application for registration by the person to the registering authority should be ordinarily done within a period of 30(thirty) days. It further provides that the registering authority may for reasons to be recorded in writing, extend the said period to such further period as may be justified in each case but not exceeding sixty days. He therefore submits that as the petitioner has explained the reasons for delay in approaching the concerned authority for registration of his name, the delay may be condoned by giving a specified period of time to the petitioner for registration of his name.

¶7After hearing the learned counsel for the parties and on perusal of records, particularly, Para No.12 of the writ petition, where the petitioner has given his explanation for the delay in approaching the Registering Authority, we condoned the delay and direct the petitioner to appear before the Registering Authority on or before 6th of November, 2023. Thereafter Registering Authority shall proceed in accordance with law. After registering the name of the petitioner, the concerned authority shall also proceed for deletion of his name from the Voter List for a period of 10(ten) years as directed by the Foreigners Tribunal in the order dated 30.03.2016. Page No.# 5/5

¶8With the above observations and directions, the writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010027832020 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/942/2020o SANDUoSEIKHo@oSANDUoMIYAo S/O-oLATEoTAIZUDDIN,oR/O-oVILL-oNO.3,oSHYAMPUR,oP.S-oDHULA,oDIST-o DARRANG,oASSAM,oPIN-o784145 VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo7oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARYoOFoTHEoMINoOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS,GOVToOFoINDIA, NEWoDELHI-o01 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVToOFoASSAM oHOMEoDEPTT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-o06 3:THEoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONERoOFoINDIA oNEWoDELHI-o01 4:THEoCOORDINATOR oNRC oASSAM oGUWAHATI oBHANGAGARH-o05 5:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oDARRANG oDIST-oDARRANG oASSAM oPIN-o784125 6:THEoSUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICEo(B) Page No.# 2/5 DARRANG DIST- DARRANG ASSAM PIN- 784125 7:THE OFFICER IN CHARGE DHULA POLICE STATION PIN- 784145 8:THE FOREIGNERS REGIONAL REGISTER OFFICE DARRANG MANGALDO Advocate for the Petitioner : MR H BHUYAN Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE LANUSUNGKUM JAMIR HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BUDI HABUNG