Hareswari Dalu v. The Union of India and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 12.05.2023 (A.M. Bujor Barua, J)

Heard Mr. A. Rahman, learned counsel for the petitioners and L. Devi, learned counsel for the respondents No. 1 and 3, being the Union of India and the State Co-ordinator of NRC, respectively. Also heard Mr. A.I. Ali, learned counsel for the respondent No. 2, being the Election Commission of India; Mr. J. Payeng, learned counsel for the respondents No. 4, 5, 7 and 8, being the authorities in the Home Department and Ms. U. Das, learned counsel for the respondent No. 6, being the Deputy Commissioner, Goalpara.

¶2The petitioner Hareswari Dalu was referred to the Foreigners' Tribunal No. 2, Goalpara for rendering an opinion as to whether she 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. FT(2) 913/K/2016 corresponding to F.T. Case No. GFT-2/166/20 was registered. The Tribunal rendered its opinion dated

30.06.2022 arriving at its conclusion that the petitioner is a foreigner who had entered the State of Assam from the specified territory between the 1.1.1966 and 24.03.1971. Under the provisions of Section 6A(3) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, there is a requirement under the law to get registered before the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office of the concerned district. The petitioner had failed to get herself registered and being aggrieved this writ petition is instituted.

¶3As there is already a determination that the petitioner is a person who had entered the State of Assam from the specified territory between 01.01.1966 and Page No.# 4/4

24.03.1971, wherein there is a requirement under the law to get registered, the petitioner may accordingly get registered before the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office of the concerned district which is stated to be the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office, Bongaigaon.

¶4Upon the petitioner being registered as a person who had entered the State of Assam between 01.01.1966 and 24.03.1971, as provided under Section 6A(3) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 the petitioner will not be entitled to vote for the next ten years from the date of registration would be made applicable to her, but at the same time would be entitled to all such rights and liberties as may be provided under the said provision. Writ petition stands allowed as indicated above.

J U D G E Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010091302023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2539/2023o HARESWARIoDALUo W/O-oINDROJEEToDALU,o R/O-oVILL-oDHAIGAON,o P.S.-oKRISHNAI,oDIST.-oGOALPARA,o ASSAM. VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo7oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoINDIA,o MINISTRYoOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS,o NEWoDELHI-o110001. 2:THEoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONoOFoINDIA oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHIEFoELECTORALoOFFICER oASSAM o DISPUR oGHY.06. 3:THEoREGISTRARoGENERALoOFoINDIA oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSTATEoCO-ORDINATOR oNRC oASSAM o ULUBARI oGHY.05. 4:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM o Page No.# 2/4 HOME DEPARTMENT DISPUR GHY.06. 5:THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE (ADMINISTRATION) ASSAM ULUBARI GHY-07. 6:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER GOALPARA ASSAM P.O. P.S. AND DIST.- GOALPARA ASSAM. PIN- 783331. 7:THE DY. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE (B) GOALPARA ASSAM P.O. P.S. AND DIST.- GOALPARA ASSAM. PIN- 783301. 8:THE OFFICE OF THE FOREIGNERS REGIONAL REGISTRATION OFFICER BONGAIGAON ASSAM P.O. P.S. AND DIST.- BONGAIGAON ASSAMM PIN. 7 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A RAHMAN Advocate for the Respondent : DY.S.G.I. Page No.# 3/4 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ROBIN PHUKAN