Assam Citizenship Case: Supreme Court cancels decisions of Tribunal and High Court in 27 cases, orders re-hearing

New Delhi:While giving an important decision on the matters related to citizenship in Assam, the Supreme Court has canceled the earlier orders of the Foreigners Tribunal and Gauhati High Court. While sending the 27 cases of denial of citizenship to the concerned Foreigners Tribunal for fresh hearing, the apex court made it clear that fair process and legal provisions should be completely followed in such sensitive cases.

What did the Justice say?

The bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta, while accepting all the 27 appeals, said that the question of citizenship and declaring a person a foreigner has very serious constitutional and legal importance. Therefore, it is mandatory to follow the principles of natural justice and prescribed legal procedure during the hearing in such cases.

Question raised on ignoring rights

The Supreme Court said in its decision that it is the right and responsibility of the government to ensure that only those people who are legally eligible for it get the benefit of Indian citizenship. Along with this, the court also made it clear that to achieve this objective, legal safeguards and procedural rights cannot be ignored.

What did the court say next?

The bench also made it clear that under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, the statutory onus of proving citizenship will remain on the person concerned. The court said that its order is only to ensure re-hearing of the cases in a fair and legal manner. The Supreme Court has neither commented on the validity of the citizenship claims of the petitioners nor given any opinion on the authenticity of the documents submitted by them. All these aspects will now be decided independently by the concerned tribunal.

The court also clarified that sending the cases back to the tribunal does not mean that the petitioners have got any special benefit or relief. If a person fails to prove his citizenship, further action will be taken as per law.

Which people approached the court?

In these 27 petitions, many people including Sabitri De, Azbahar Ali, Mohammad Akbar Ali, Abeda Khatoon and Anwara Khatoon had approached the Supreme Court. He said that on the basis of technical errors like minor differences in the spelling of names in the voter list, he was declared a foreigner, due to which he was deprived of citizenship. Now the concerned Foreigners Tribunal will decide afresh on all these matters.