SC sets aside foreigner declarations by Assam tribunals: ‘Citizenship must be determined through fair process’

SC sets aside foreigner declarations by Assam – The Supreme Court pronounced judgment on a batch of petitions challenging the denial of citizenship by the Foreigners’ Tribunal in Assam. The court said citizenship and foreigner status must be determined through a "fair, lawful and reasonable" process, while setting aside judgments of the Gauhati High Court that had upheld declarations of 27 appellants as foreigners.A Bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta allowed 27 appeals and remanded the cases to the concerned Foreigners Tribunals for fresh adjudication, Live Law reported.The court also held that the issue of citizenship carries profound constitutional significance and must be decided in accordance with the requirements of fairness.What was the case?The petitioners argued that they were declared foreigners simply due to hyper-technical errors, such as minor spelling mismatches of names in old voter lists.The Supreme Court's judgment on Monday followed the Gauhati High Court's dismissal of a challenge to an ex parte order of the Foreigners Tribunal declaring the petitioners foreigners.The high court held that, in the absence of any written statement, documents or evidence from the proceedees, "the Tribunal had no option but to affirm the reference."Relying on Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, the high court emphasised that the burden of proving Indian citizenship rests entirely on the proceedee, since the relevant facts are especially within his or her knowledge.It held that where no evidence is produced, the Tribunal is justified in declaring the proceedee to be a foreigner based on the reference made against them.What did the SC say?On Monday, the Supreme Court observed, "Citizenship and foreigner status occupy a field of high constitutional and legal significance."At the same time, the court acknowledged the State's interest in preventing illegal claims to Indian citizenship."The State has a legitimate and compelling interest in ensuring that persons who are not legally entitled to claim Indian citizenship do not secure such status by misuse of process, by false claim or by taking advantage of delays," the Bench said, as per Live Law.The court, however, stressed that this objective cannot come at the cost of procedural fairness. "At the same time, the determination of such status must be made through a process which is fair, lawful and reasonable," it said."The statutory burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 remains fully applicable," the court observed.The Bench further clarified that the remand should not be construed as granting any equitable relief to the appellants."The remand being directed is not intended to confer any equity in favour of a person who is unable to establish his or her claim.

It is only to ensure that the serious consequence of being declared a foreigner follows from an adjudication which satisfies the requirements of the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, and the constitutional mandate of fairness," the Court observed.Accordingly, the court set aside both the Gauhati High Court judgments and the corresponding opinions and orders passed by the concerned Foreigners Tribunals."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 court directed.Clarifying the scope of its order, the Bench said it had not examined the merits of the appellants' claims to Indian citizenship."We have 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. Those questions must be decided by the concerned Tribunal independently," the court was quoted as saying.