Citizenship must be decided through fair process: SC

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the process of determining citizenship or declaring an individual a foreigner must be fair, while hearing a batch of petitions filed by 27 people who had been declared “foreigners” by Foreigners Tribunals in Assam.  A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta set aside the orders of the Gauhati High Court and the Foreigners Tribunals in all 27 cases. The Supreme Court said that the process of deciding citizenship or declaring a person a foreigner cannot compromise judicial principles. It acknowledged that the State has a legitimate and compelling interest in ensuring that those not legally entitled to Indian citizenship do not obtain it through false claims, misuse of legal process, or delay, but stressed that due process must prevail. It directed that no coercive action be taken against the petitioners until the tribunals rehear their cases.
The apex court made it clear that it has not examined the merits of the claims of citizenship by the appellants or expressed any opinion on the genuineness, admissibility, relevance or sufficiency of any document relied upon by them. The bench added that its sole purpose is to ensure that the grave consequence of being declared a foreigner arises only from an adjudication that meets the standards laid down under the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, and the constitutional mandate of fairness. The court said the concerned tribunals shall decide the cases afresh and uninfluenced by any of the observations made by the high court or by the tribunals in the earlier opinions. The Foreigners Tribunals have further been requested to conclude the fresh adjudication preferably within six months, in accordance with law.
Among the petitioners were Sabitri Dey, Ajbahar Ali, Md Akbar Ali, Abeda Khatun and Anowara Khatun, who argued that they had been declared foreigners on hyper-technical grounds and minor discrepancies. The petitioners had challenged the tribunal orders before the Gauhati High Court and later the Supreme Court, relying on documents such as pre-1971 legacy records, electoral rolls and land records to establish their Indian citizenship.