Jaleswar Boro v. The Union of India and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 24.02.2023 (A.M. Bujor Barua, J)

Heard Ms. D. Devi, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. B. Chakraborty, learned counsel for the respondent No. 1, being the Union of India. Also heard Ms. A. Verma, learned counsel for the respondents No. 2 and 5, being the authorities in the Home Department; Mr. A.I. Ali, learned counsel for the respondent No. 3 and 7, being the Election Commission of India; Ms. L. Devi, learned counsel for the respondent No. 4, being the State Co-ordinator of the NRC and Ms. M. Dutta, learned counsel for the respondent No. 6, being the Deputy Commissioner, Sonitpur.

¶2The petitioner is aggrieved to the extent that in the voters' list of 2005 of Dhekiajuli Town Ward No. 5 where the name of the petitioner Jaleswar Boro appears at Sl. No. 577, house No. 379, it shows a mark 'D' against his name. As a consequence, the petitioner is debarred from exercising his voting rights in the Page No.# 3/3 elections. The petitioner in the aforesaid circumstance has approached this Court seeking a direction to the respondents to regularize the status of the petitioner as a voter of 71-Dhekiajuli LAC corresponding to Dhekiajuli Town Ward No. 5.

¶3In the writ petition, the petitioner has also annexed as Annexure J at page 33 which is a report on the 'D' voters status of the petitioner dated 17.01.2018 submitted by the Circle Officer, Dhekiajuli Revenue Circle-cum-ERO, 71-Dhekiajuli LAC made to the Election Officer, Tezpur that as per the report of the BLO and AERO regarding the 'D' voter status of the petitioner, the petitioner is an original inhabitant of Assam residing permanently at Dhekiajuli Town Ward No. 5 under Dhekiajuli Revenue Circle and his name also earlier appeared in the voters' list of 1997 under 71-Dhekiajuli LAC in Polling Station No. 58 at Sl. No. 1163 and House No. 379. Accordingly, a request was made by the Circle Officer-cum-ERO to the Election Officer to remove the mark 'D' against the petitioner in the voters' list of 2005.

¶4As the authorities had already made an enquiry on the status of the petitioner and arrived at its own conclusion that the petitioner is an inhabitant of Assam and therefore mark 'D' against his name in the voters' list of 2005 was unwarranted, we direct the Election Officer, Tezpur to do the needful and pass a reasoned order pursuant to the communication dated 17.01.2018 of the Circle Officer-cum-ERO. The reasoned order to be passed within a period of one month from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order. Writ petition stands disposed of as indicated above.

J U D G E Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010029322023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/874/2023o JALESWARoBOROo S/OoLATEoPHATIKoBORO,oR/OoVILL-KRISHNAoNAGAR,oWARDoNO.o05,oP.O.o ANDoP.S.-DHEKIAJULI,oDIST-SONITPUR,oASSAM VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo6oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoINDIA,o DEPARTMENToOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS,oNEWoDELHI 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oDEPARTMENToOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-6 3:ELECTIONoCOMMISSIONoOFoINDIA oREP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONER oNIRBACHANoSADAN oNEWoDELHI 4:THEoSTATEoCOORDINATORoOFoNATIONALoREGISTRATIONo(NRC) oASSAM o1SToFLOOR oACHYUToPLAZA oGUWAHATI-SHILLONGoROAD oBHANGAGARH oGUWAHATI oASSAM-781005 5:THEoSUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICEo(BORDER) oSONITPUR oDIST-SONITPUR oASSAM Page No.# 2/3 6:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER SONITPUR ASSAM DIST-SONITPUR ASSAM 7:THE DISTRICT ELECTION OFFICER SONITPUR ASSAM DIST-SONITPUR ASSA Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. S BISWAS Advocate for the Respondent : DY.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ROBIN PHUKAN