Ramina Khatun v. The Union of India and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 21.06.2023 (AM Bujor Barua, J)

Heard Mr. N Ahmed, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. L Devi, learned counsel for the respondents no. 1 and 6 being the authorities under the Union of India and NRC respectively, Mr. G Sarma, learned counsel for the respondents no. 2 and 3 being the authorities under the Home Department of Government of Assam, Mr. PK Medhi, learned counsel for the respondent no. 4 being the Deputy Commissioner, Barpeta and Mr. T Pegu, learned counsel for the respondent no. 5 being the authorities under the Election Commission of India.

¶2The petitioner Ramina Khatun had been referred to the Foreigners' Tribunal No. 1, Barpeta for rendering an opinion as to whether she is a foreigner within the meaning of Foreigners Act, 1946, resulting in registration of F.T. Case No. 101/17. The Tribunal rendered an opinion dated 04.02.2019 declaring the petitioner to be a foreigner.

¶3Being aggrieved, this writ petition is instituted.

¶4In the writ proceeding the petitioner relies upon the voters' list of 1966 of village Kanda Para which contains the names of Jumar Ali S/O Jahur Uddin at Sl. No. 20 and Suraton Nessa W/O Jumar Ali at Sl. No. 21. It is claimed that Jumar Page No.# 3/4 Ali is the grandfather and Suraton Nessa is the grandmother of the petitioner. Further reference is made to the voters' list of 1970 of village Kanda Para which contains the names of Jumar Ali S/O Jahuruddin at Sl. No. 24, Suraton Nessa W/O Jumar Ali at Sl. No. 25 and that of Omar Ali S/O Jumar Ali at Sl. No. 27 where all of them are shown to be residing in the same house no. 10.

¶5Omar Ali had rendered evidence before the Tribunal as DW.2 stating that the petitioner Ramina Khatun is his daughter.

¶6In view of the above, the matter stands remanded back to the Tribunal to examine the voters' lists of 1966, 1970 of village Kanda Para where the voters' list of 1970 contains the names of Jumar Ali, Suraton Nessa and Omar Ali together as well as the evidence of Omar Ali as DW.2. The respondents in the Home Department to also make their own enquiry and verification and thereafter, submit a report before the Tribunal and the respondents may also cross examine DW.2 as may be advised. Upon doing the needful, a reasoned order be passed by the Tribunal.

¶7The petitioner to appear before the Tribunal on 26.07.2023.

¶8If the order of the Tribunal is in favour of the petitioner, the same shall prevail over the opinion dated 04.02.2019 passed in F.T. Case No. 101/17 and if against, consequence under the law is applicable to the petitioner.

¶9Till the reasoned order is passed, no coercive action be taken against the petitioner.

Send back the LCR.

Writ petition stands disposed of in the above terms.

JUDGE JUDGE Page No.# 4/4

Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010111812020 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3306/2020o RAMINAoKHATUNo D/OoLATEoOMARoALI,o W/OoFALUoMIYA,o R/OoVILLAGEoKANDAPARA,oPSoANDoDISToBARPETA,oASSAM VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoINDIA,oMINISTRYo OFoHOMEoAFFAIRS,oSHASTRIoBHAWAN,oTILOKoMARG,oNEWoDELHIo1 2:STATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM oHONEoDEPT.oDISPUR oGHYo6 3:THEoSUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICEo(B) oBARPETA oASSAM o781301 4:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oBARPETA oBARPETAoASSAMo781301 5:THEoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONoOFoINDIA oNEWoDELHIo1 6:THEoASSAMoSTATEoCOORDINATORoOFoNRC oBHANGAGARH oGUWAHATIo Page No.# 2/4 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A R SIKDAR Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ROBIN PHUKAN