Purnima Das v. Union of India and 6 Ors

O R D E R

19.07.2024 Heard Mr. A. Ganguli, the learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. A. I. Ali, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent Nos. 4 & 5 and Mr. M. Chetia, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent Nos.2, 3, 6 & 7.

¶2The case of the petitioner is that in the voters list of 2018, the name of the petitioner was marked with the letter "D" and thereupon the petitioner has approached the concerned respondent authorities for removal of the tag "D" in his name from the voters list.

¶3As the concerned respondent authorities had failed to do so, the petitioner is before this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for an appropriate direction that the letter "D" tagged with the name of the petitioner in the voters list be removed.

¶4Whether a person is a D voter or not is a matter of factual Page No.# 3/3 determination and the appropriate forum to do the same is the concerned Foreigners Tribunal. This Court in exercise of its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India would not have the competence to decide such a question which depends on the evidence that may be produced.

¶5In the circumstances, this Court therefore directs the Superintendent of Police (Border), Sonitpur to verify as to whether the petitioner has already been referred to the concerned Foreigners Tribunal and if upon verification it is found that the petitioner has not been referred to the concerned Foreigners Tribunal, this Court further directs the said respondent No.7 to refer the case of the petitioner as regards the mark "D" in the voters list in respect to 73 No. Tezpur LAC to a competent Foreigners Tribunal, Sonitpur district for an appropriate adjudication as regards the status of the petitioner as "D" voter in the concerned voters list.

¶6Reference be made within a period of 2 (two) months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order by the Superintendnet of Police (Border), Sonitpur. Upon such reference being made, the petitioner may participate in such proceedings and establish her case.

¶7If the case of the petitioner as per the records had already been referred to the relevant Foreigners Tribunal there would be no requirement to make any further reference and the detailed information of the earlier reference be communicated to the petitioner.

¶8With the above directions and observations, the instant writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE

Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010202752019 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6241/2019o PURNIMAoDASo W/O-oSRIoJYOTISHoDAS,oR/O-oLDSoROAD,oNO.2,oGARWANoPATTY,oWARDo NO.14,oP.O-oTEZPUR,oP.S-oTEZPUR,oDIST-oSONITPUR,oASSAM-o784001 VERSUSo UNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo6oORSo THROUGHoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoMINoOFoHOMEo AFFAIRS,oGOVToOFoINDIA,oNEWoDELHI-o01 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oTHROUGHoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVToOFo ASSAM oHOMEoDEPTT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-o781006 3:THEoSTATEoCOORDINATOR oNRC oACHYUToPLAZA oBHANGAGARH oGUWAHATI oASSAM oPIN-o781005 4:THEoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONoOFoINDIA oTHROUGHoTHEoCHIEFoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONER oNIRVACHANoSADAN oNEWoDELHI 5:THEoCHIEFoELECTORALoOFFICER oASSAMoCoBLOCK Page No.# 2/3 4TH FLOOR JANATA BHAWAN DISPUR GHY- 06 6:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER SONITPUR TEZPUR 7:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KAMRUP (R For the petitioner (s) : Mr. A. Ganguli, Advocate For the respondent (s) : Mr. A. I. Ali, SC, ECI Mr. M. Chetia, Advocate BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH