Abul Kalam and Anr v. Union of India and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 23-07-2024 (K.R. Surana, J) Heard Ms. R. Choudhury, learned counsel for the petitioners as well as Mr. J. Payeng, learned standing counsel for the Foreigner's Tribunal; Mr. G. Sarma, learned Govt. Advocate appearing for the Home Department; Mr. R. Talukdar, learned Govt. Advocate appearing for the respondent no.3, Ms. R. Devi, learned CGC and Mr. T. Pegu, learned standing counsel for the Election Commission of India.

¶2The learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that pursuant to the order dated 07.09.2016 passed by the Division Bench of this Court in WP(C) 5174/2016, the petitioner no.1 has registered himself before the Registering authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955 on 21.09.2016 vide Registration no.R-6106. In this regard, the learned standing counsel for the State's Home Department has confirmed that the petitioner no.1 namely, Abul Page No.# 3/5 Kalam has registered himself before the FRRO, Nagaon. It is also submitted that the legal consequences of the petitioner no.1, being so registered, would follow.

¶3In so far as the petitioner no.2, namely, Anowar Hussain is concerned, from the Trial Court Record of the Foreigner's Tribunal, Jorhat it is seen that as against the petitioner no.2, a reference, being Case no. FTG/1781/2011 was registered and by a common order dated 27.04.2020, the Foreigner's Tribunal, Jorhat has given its opinion, declaring the petitioner no.2 to be a foreigner who has illegally entered into the territory of India (Assam) after

25.03.1971 without any valid document.

¶4The learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that the present appeal was filed on 26.07.2019 and she was not instructed about the said opinion of the Foreigner's Tribunal, Jorhat in Case no. FTG/1781/2011 and accordingly, she prays to permit the petitioners to withdraw the writ petition only on behalf of petitioner no.2 so as to enable the petitioner no.2, namely, Anowar Hussain to challenge the award passed against him. Prayer is allowed.

¶5This writ petition is allowed to be withdrawn in respect of petitioner no.2.

¶6In respect of the petitioner no.1, we take notice of the previous proceeding against him vide Case no. FTG/139/14 of the Foreigner's Tribunal, Jorhat, wherein the said learned Tribunal had already given its opinion that the petitioner no.1 was a foreigner who had entered India (Assam) after 01.01.1966 and before 25.03.1971 and accordingly, the Division Bench of this Court, by Page No.# 4/5 order dated 07.09.2016, had directed the registration of the petitioner before the FRRO, Nagaon. In this regard the learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the second proceeding is a harassment to the petitioner.

¶7As the opinion of the Foreigner's Tribunal, Jorhat in Case no. FTG/139/14 in respect of the petitioner has attained finality in view of the order passed by the Division Bench of this Court in WP(C) 5174/2016, the Court is inclined to provide that in the event the proceedings of FTG/1784/2011, instituted against the petitioner no.1, namely, Abul Kalam before the Foreigner's Tribunal, Jorhat is still pending, the petitioner would be at liberty to produce the certified copy of those orders before the learned Foreigner's Tribunal, Jorhat, if so advised. On such documents being produced, the said learned Tribunal would take note of the same and pass appropriate orders if the present proceeding is the second proceeding against the same proceedee.

¶8Needless, to say that if the petitioner no.1 is still aggrieved, it would be open for the petitioner no.1 to approach this Court again.

¶9This writ petition is disposed of.

¶10Let the TCR be sent back.

JUDGE. JUDGE Page No.# 5/5

Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010176452019 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5377/2019o ABULoKALAMoANDoANR.o S/O.oLT.oHAFIJoALIoANDoHABEJoUDDIN,oVILL.oPASCHIMoSINGIMARI,oP.S.o RUPAHIHAT,oDIST.oKARIMGANJ,oASSAM. 2:oANOWARoHUSSAIN oS/O.oABULoKALAM oVILL.oPASCHIMoSINGIMARI oP.S.oRUPAHIHAT oDIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAMo VERSUSo UNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo5oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoINDIA,oMINISTRYoOFoHOMEo AFFAIRS,oSHASTRIoBHAWAN,oNEWoDELHI-110001. 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oHOMEoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06. 3:THEoDY.oCOMMISSIONER oNAGAON o782001. 4:THEoSUPDT.oOFoPOLICEo(B) oGOLAGHAT o785702. Page No.# 2/5 5:THE ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA NEW DELHI-110001. 6:THE STATE COORDINATOR NATIONAL REGISTRAR OF CITIZENS (NRC) ASSAM GUWAHATI-781005 Advocate for the Petitioner : MS. R CHOUDHURY Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KALYAN RAI SURANA HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SOUMITRA SAIKIA