Shahajahan Ali v. The Union of India and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 01.06.2023 (A.M. Bujor Barua, J)

Heard Mr. S. Islam, learned counsel for the petitioner and Ms. L. Devi, learned counsel for the respondents No. 1 and 6, being the Union of India and the State Co-ordinator of NRC, respectively. Also heard Mr. T. Pegu, learned counsel for the respondent No. 2, being the authorities in the Election Commission of India; Mr. G. Sarma, learned counsel for the respondents No. 3, 5, 7 and 8, being the authorities in the Home Department and Mr. N.K. Das, learned counsel for the respondent No. 4, being the Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup(M) .

¶2The petitioner Shahajahan Ali was referred to the Foreigners' Tribunal No. Page No.# 3/4 2, Kamrup(M) for rendering an opinion as to whether he is a person who had entered the State of Assam from the specified territory on or after 25.03.1971 and accordingly F.T. Case No. 1810/2015 was registered. The Tribunal had rendered its opinion dated 03.11.2018 arriving at its conclusion that the petitioner is a foreigner who had entered the State of Assam on or after

25.03.1971. Being aggrieved this writ petition is instituted.

¶3In the writ proceeding, the petitioner relies upon the voters' list of 1966 of village Kismat Hasdaha Pt. III in the Dhubri district which contains the name of Sapatullah Sk son of Pataru at Sl. No. 163. The petitioner also relies upon the voters' list of 1993 of village Kismat Hasdaha Pt. III in the Dhubri district which contain the name of Sapatulla Sk son of Pataru at Sl. No. 395 and that of Amzad Ali son of Sapatulla Sk at Sl. No. 396. It is claimed that Sapatulla Sk is the grandfather and Amzad Ali is the father of the petitioner. Reliance is also placed in the voters' list of 1997 of village Kismat Hasdaha Pt. III in the Dhubri district which contains the name of Amzad Ali son of Sapatulla at Sl. No. 675 and that of Sahera Bibi wife of Amzad Ali at Sl. No. 676 and it is claimed that Sahera Bibi is the mother of the petitioner. Thereafter reliance is placed in the voters' list of 2015 of village Kismat Hasdaha Pt. III in the Dhubri district which contains the name of Shahajahan Ali son of Amzad Ali at Sl. No. 701. The petitioner claims that the burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 has been discharged, inasmuch as, the voters' list of 2015 of village Kismat Hasdaha Pt. III shows that Shahajahan Ali is the son of Amzad Ali whereas the voters' list of 1993 of the same village contains the name of Amzad Ali along with Sapatulla Sk where the name of Sapatullah Sk also appears in the voters' list of 1966 of village Kismat Hasdaha Pt. III.

¶4In view of the above, we remand the matter back to the Foreigners' Page No.# 4/4 Tribunal No. 2, Kamrup(M) to examine the aforesaid voters' lists of 1966, 1993, 1997 and 2015 of village Kismat Hasdaha Pt. III in the Dhubri district. The State respondents in the Home Department through the Superintendent of Police(B), Kamrup(M) may make their own verification as to whether Shahajahan Ali of the voters' list of 2015 of village Kismat Hasdaha Pt. III and the petitioner proceedee are one and the same person and thereafter submit a report the Tribunal.

¶5Upon doing the needful, the Tribunal to pass a reasoned order. If the reasoned order to be passed is in favour of the petitioner, the same shall prevail over the earlier opinion dated 03.11.2018 in F.T. Case No. 1810/2015 and if it is against the petitioner, consequences under law shall follow. The petitioner to appear before the Tribunal on 07.07.2023. Till the reasoned order is passed, no coercive action be taken against the petitioner. Writ petition stands disposed of as indicated above. Send back the LCR forthwith.

J U D G E J U D G E Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010076602019 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2361/2019o SHAHAJAHANoALIo S/O.oAMJADoALI,oR/O.oVILL.oKISMAToHASDAHAoPART-III,oP.O.oKISMATo HASDAHA,oPS-oDHUBRI,oDIST.-oDHUBRI,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo7oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoSECY.oTOoTHEoMINISTRYoOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS,oGOVT.oOFo INDIA,oNEWoDELHI-o110001. 2:THEoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONoOFoINDIA oREP.oBYoTHEoCHIEFoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONERoOFoINDIA oNIRVACHANoSADAN oASHOKAoROAD oNEWoDELHI-110001. 3:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oHOMEoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGHY.-o781006. 4:THEoDY.oCOMMISSIONER oKAMRUP(M) oDIST.oKAMRUP(M) oASSAM.oPIN-o781001. 5:THEoSUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICEo(B) oKAMRUP(M) oDIST.-oKAMRUP(M) oASSAM-o781001. Page No.# 2/4 6:THE STATE CO-ORDINATOR OF NRC ASSAM PO AND PS- BHANGAGARH GHY.-05 DIST.- KAMRUP(M) ASSAM. 7:THE DY. COMMISSIONER DHUBRI DIST.- DHUBRI ASSAM- 783301. 8:THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (B) DHUBRI DIST. DHUBRI ASSAM- 783301 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. S ISLAM Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ROBIN PHUKAN