Since the citizenship of the petitioner had come under a cloud, he would remain on bail during the proceedings. Such an opinion was held by The Hon’ble High Court of Gauhati before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and The Hon’ble Mrs. Justice Malasri Nandi in the matter of Md. Bahar Ali Vs. The Union of India and Ors [WP(C) No. 874/2019].
The facts of the case were associated with a petition where it was pleaded by the petitioner that a vital document Exbt.-3 was exhibited by him on the opinion of Foreigners’ Tribunal (IMDT) of Lakhimpur, North Lakhimpur wherein the Tribunal declared Sahar Ali, the father of the petitioner to be not a foreigner. The counsel representing the petitioner stated that since the father was declared as not a foreigner, naturally his son, the petitioner would be an Indian and not a foreigner. However, the Tribunal was non-considerate of this and due to which an important piece of evidence, the opinion of the learned Tribunal has been vitiated and is liable to be set aside, as submitted by the said counsel.
The documents furnished in Exbts.-1, 2, 3 and 4 had extracts of voters list, voter’s identity card and copy of the opinion of Foreigners’ Tribunal (IMDT). In the voter list, the Tribunal did not find Sahar Ali, the name of the petitioner’s father but Mahar Ali which was not relevant.
The Hon’ble High Court after considering all the submissions stated that “… we allow this petition by setting aside the impugned opinion dated 29.11.2018 passed by the learned Foreigners’ Tribunal, Lakhimpur (1st), North Lakhimpur in Lakhimpur FT(1st) Case No.2677/2011. The petitioner will accordingly, appear before the aforesaid Tribunal on or before 29.11.2021 and thereafter, the learned Tribunal will proceed with the matter and pass a fresh opinion in accordance with law… The concerned Superintendent of Police (B) shall also take necessary steps for capturing the fingerprints and biometrics of the iris of the petitioner. It is also made clear that the petitioner shall not leave the jurisdiction of the Lakhimpur district without obtaining permission from the Superintendent of Police (B), Lakhimpur.”
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Judgment reviewed by- Bipasha Kundu
