Sattar Ali v. The Union of India and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 12.05.2023 (AM Bujor Barua, J)

Heard Ms. D Ghosh, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. L Devi, learned counsel for the respondents no. 1 and 4 being the authorities under the Union of India and NRC respectively, Mr. G Sarma, learned counsel for the respondents no. 2, 5, 7 and 8 being the authorities under the Home Department of Government of Assam, Mr. AI Ali, learned counsel for the Page No.# 3/5 respondent no. 3 being the Election Commission of India and Ms. U Das, learned counsel for the respondent no. 6 being the Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup(M).

¶2The petitioner Md. Sattar Ali had been referred to the Foreigners' Tribunal No. 4, Kamrup(M) for rendering an opinion as to whether he is a person who entered the State of Assam from the specified territory on or after 25.03.1971, resulting in registration of F.T. Case No. FT (K(M)-4) 469/16. The Tribunal rendered an opinion dated 30.08.2019 declaring the petitioner to be a foreigner.

¶3Being aggrieved this writ petition is instituted.

¶4In the writ proceeding the petitioner relies on the voters' list of 1966 of village Laruajan which contains the name of Ismail Seikh, S/O Tarif at Sl. No. 168 and that of Fajar Uddin, S/O Ismail at Sl. No. 169 where both of them are shown to be residing in the same house no. 58. The petitioner also relies on the voters' list of 1970 of village Laruajan which contains the name of Ismail Sheikh, S/O Tarif at Sl. No. 172 and that of Fajar Uddin, S/O Ismail at Sl. No. 173 and both of them are shown to be residing in the same house no. 58. The petitioner claims that the family of Ismail Seikh and Fajar Uddin shifted to village Dhelachar sometime after 1979 and settled at village Dhelachar. Accordingly, the voters' list of village Dhelachar of the year 1985 is relied upon which contains the name of Fatez, S/O Ismail at Sl. No. 1037 and that of Sattar, S/O Faraj at Sl. No. 1042 and both are shown to be residing in the same house no. 271. The said voters' list also contains the name of Hajira Khatun, W/O Faraj immediately after Fatez and it is clarified Fatez of Sl. No. 1037 is actually Faraj alias Fajar and it is a misspelling.

¶5Accordingly, as the name of Sattar and Fatez alias Faraj alias Fajar appears Page No.# 4/5 in the same voters' list and the name of Fatez alias Faraj alias Fajar appears along with Ismail in the voters' list of 1966 and 1971, it is claimed that the petitioner has discharged the burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners' Act, 1946 that he is a citizen of India. The only aspect that remains for consideration is that there is a claim that the family had shifted from village Laruajan to village Dhelachar and whether the said stand is acceptable. For the purpose, we required the respondent Election Commission to produce the complete voters' lists of village Laruajan and village Dhelachar from 1966 upto 1985.

¶6The complete voters' lists as indicated above have been produced before the Court.

¶7A reading of the voters' lists indicate that the name of Fatez alias Faraj alias Fajar, S/O Ismail and other of the family did not appear any further in the voters' lists of Laruajan after 1971 whereas the name of Fatez alias Faraj alias Fajar, S/O Ismail and others of the family started appearing in the voters' list of village Dhelachar after 1985 whereas it did not appear in the voters' lists of village Dhelachar earlier to 1985. As the names of Fatez alias Faraj alias Fajar, S/O Ismail and others of the family were discontinued in the voters' lists of village Laruajan after 1971 and included in the voters' list of 1985 of village Dhelachar, where again their names did not appear in the voters' list of village Dhelachar prior to 1985, an inference can be drawn that the stand of shifting from Laruajan to village Dhelachar would be acceptable.

¶8In the circumstance, we remand the matter back to examine the complete voters' list of the aforesaid villages and arrive at a conclusion as to whether the petitioner proceedee Sattar Ali and Sattar, S/O Faraj whose name appears at Sl. No. 1042 along with Fatez alias Faraj alias Fajar in the voters' list of 1985 of village Dhelachar are one and the same person and thereafter, pass a reasoned Page No.# 5/5 order thereon.

¶9The complete voters' lists produced by the Election Commission are kept on record and the petitioner may rely and produce the same before the Tribunal, if so advised.

¶10The petitioner to appear before the Tribunal on 27.06.2023.

¶11If the reasoned order is in favour of the petitioner, the same shall prevail over the opinion dated 30.08.2019 passed in F.T. Case No. FT (K(M)-4) 469/16and if against, consequence under the law is applicable to the petitioner.

¶12Till 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

Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010280802019 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/714/2020o SATTARoALIo S/O-oMD.oFARAJoALI,oR/O-oVILL-oNATUNoDEOCHAR,oP.S-oBOKO,oDIST-o KAMRUP,oASSAM,oPIN-o781123 VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo7oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARY,oMINoOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS,oGOVToOFoINDIA,o SHASTRIoBHAWAN,oNEWoDELHI-o110001 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVToOFoASSAM oHOMEoDEPTT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-o781006 3:THEoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONoOFoINDIA oREP.oBYoTHEoCHIEFoELECTIONoCOMMISSION oNIRVACHANoSADAN oASHOKAoROAD oNEWoDELHI-o110001 4:THEoSTATEoCOORDINATOR oNRC oASSAM o1SToFLOOR oACHYUToPLAZA oGSoROAD oBHANGAGARH oGUWAHATI oASSAM oPIN-o781005 Page No.# 2/5 5:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KAMRUP P.O- AMINGAON P.S- AMINGAON DIST- KAMRUP ASSAM PIN- 781031 6:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF POLICE (B) CITY GUWAHATI KAMRUP(M) ASSAM PIN- 781001 7:THE OFFICER IN CHARGE BOKO POLICE STATION P.O- BOKO DIST- KAMRUP ASSAM PIN- 78112 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M AHMED Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ROBIN PHUKAN