Khudeja Khatun v. The Union of India and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 22.09.2023 (L.S.Jamir,

J)

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

¶2The petitioner is aggrieved with the order dated 21.09.2020, passed by Member, Foreigners Tribunal 5th Morigaon, Assam in Case No. FT(D) 1341/2017 by which she has been declared to be a foreigner who entered into India(Assam) after 25.03.1971.

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¶3The petitioner in order to prove that she is a citizen of India and not a foreigner, exhibited the Voter List of 1966 of Village Udkati, wherein, her father, namely, Jahur Uddin appears at Sl. No.52 and her mother Sahar Banu appears at Sl. No. 53 as Exhibit-1. The petitioner also exhibited the Voter List of 1970 of Village Udkati, wherein, her father Jahur Uddin appears at Sl. No. 47 and her mother Sahar Banu appears at Sl. No. 48 as Exhibit-2. It is the claim of the petitioner that she married one A. Rahman and thereafter, after attaining the age of majority, her name Khadeja Khatun appeared in the Voter List of 1985 for the Village Datialbori at Sl. No. 339 and the name of her husband A.Rehman appeared at Sl. No. 338.

¶4To prove her linkage with her father, namely, Jahur Uddin, the petitioner exhibited a certificate dated 14.06.2015, issued by the Secretary of Kacharibori Gaon Panchayat, wherein, it is certified that her father's name is Jahur Uddin and her mother's name is Sahar Banu as Exhibit 5. Further, the School Transfer Certificate issued by the Head Master of Bata bori L.P. School was exhibited as Exhibit 6, wherein, the petitioner is shown as the daughter of Jahur Uddin/Sahar Banu and her date of birth is indicated as 11.01.1967. Another certificate issued by the Gaon Panchayat of Udkati Gaon dated 13.11.2019 was also exhibited as Exhibit 8, wherein, it is certified that the petitioner is the daughter of Late Jahur Uddin of Village Udkati.

¶5The Tribunal considered Exhibits 5, 6 and 8 and came to the conclusion that as the said Certificate were not proved by the issuing authority, the same does not help the petitioner to prove her linkage with her father Jahur Uddin. With regard to the Exhibits 1 and 2, i.e., Voter List of 1966 and 1970, the Page No.# 4/5 Tribunal came to the conclusion that the petitioner's name is not enlisted in the said two Voter Lists together with her parents, step mother and brother as such, the two Voter Lists (Exhibit 1 and 2) does not help the petitioner in establishing her linkage with her parents. Thereafter, the Tribunal came to the conclusion that the petitioner is a foreigner who entered into India(Assam) after

25.03.1971.

¶6The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner could not prove Exhibits 5, 6 and 8 before the Tribunal, inasmuch as the issuing authority was not examined to prove the same. He submits that the failure to prove the Exhibits was due to miscommunication between the petitioner and her counsel as well as due to no proper guidance with regard to the same. Accordingly, it is submitted that an opportunity be granted to the petitioner to prove the Exhibits 5, 6 and 8 in order to prove her linkage with her father namely, Jahur Uddin after examining the issuing authority.

¶7We have considered the submissions forwarded by the learned counsel for the parties and on perusal of the material available on record, we find that Exhibits 5, 6 and 8 could not be proved as the issuing authority was not examined. In that view of the matter, we are of the considered opinion that an opportunity should be given to the petitioner to prove the Exhibits 5, 6 and 8 before the Tribunal again.

¶8Accordingly, the matter is remanded to the Foreigners' Tribunal 5th Morigaon to have a reconsideration of the Case No. FT(D) 1341/2017 by permitting the petitioner to prove her Exhibits 5, 6 and 8 and thereafter, Page No.# 5/5 proceed in accordance with law. Accordingly, the order dated 21.09.2020, passed by the Foreigners Tribunal 5th Morigaon in Case No. FT(D) 1341/2017 is set aside and quashed.

¶9The petitioner is directed to appear before the Foreigners Tribunal 5th Morigaon on 13th of October, 2023. With the aforesaid observations and directions, the writ petition is disposed of.

JUDGE JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010088802021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6170/2021o KHUDEJAoKHATUNo W/OoABDURoRAHMAN,oR/OoVILL.oPUBoDATIALBARI,oP.O.oDATIALBARI,oP.S.o LAHARIGHAT,oDIST.oMORIGAON,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo6oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECY.,oMINISTRYoOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS,oGOVT.oOFo INDIA,oNEWoDELHI. 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFo ASSAM oHOMEoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGUWAHATIo781006 3:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oMORIGAONoDIST.o oMORIGAON oASSAM. 4:THEoSUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICEo(B) oMORIGAON oDIST.oMORIGAON oASSAM. 5:THEoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONoOFoINDIA oNEWoDELHIo110001 Page No.# 2/5 6:THE STATE CO ORDINATOR NATIONAL REGISTRATION OF CITIZENS (NRC) BHANGAGARH GUWAHATI 781032 7:THE MEMBER FOREIGNERS TRIBUNAL NO. 5 MORIGAON DIST. MORIGAON Advocate for the Petitioner : MR J K MISHRA Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE LANUSUNGKUM JAMIR HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BUDI HABUNG