Rahima Khatun v. The Union of India and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 08.06.2023 (A.M. Bujor Barua, J)

Heard Ms. D. Ghosh, learned counsel for the petitioner and Ms. L. Devi, learned counsel for the respondent No. 1 and 4, being the Union of India and the State Coordinator of NRC, respectively. Also heard Mr. G. Sarma, learned counsel for the respondents No. 2, 5, 7 and 8, being the authorities in the Home Department; Mr. A.I. Ali, learned counsel for the respondent No. 3, being the Election Commission of India and Ms. M. Dutta, learned counsel for the respondent No. 6, being the Deputy Commissioner, Baksa.

¶2The petitioner Rahima Khatun was referred to the Foreigners' Tribunal, Baksa for rendering an opinion as to whether she is a person who had entered the State of Assam from the specified territory on or after 25.03.1971 and accordingly F.T. Case No. 27/BAKSA/2019 was registered. The Tribunal had rendered its opinion dated 23.03.2021 arriving at its conclusion that the petitioner is a foreigner who had entered the State of Assam on or after

25.03.1971. Being aggrieved this writ petition is instituted.

¶3In the writ proceeding, the petitioner relies upon the voters' list of 1965 of village Matanga, Mouza Gobardhana in the Kamrup district which contains the name of Rahima Khatun wife of Omar at Sl. No. 115. The subsequent voters' lists of the years 1970, 1989, 1997 and 2005 of village Matanga contain the name of Rahima Khatun wife of Omar. The age of Rahima Khatun as per the voters' list of 1965 is shown to be 23 years and in the affidavit accompanying the writ petition, the age of the petitioner is shown to be 79 years which Page No.# 4/4 appears to be consistent if she was 23 years old in the year 1965. The petitioner claims that Rahima Khatun of the voters' list of 1965 of village Matanga is the petitioner herself. No material is produced by the respondents in the Home Department nor any question has been raised that the writ petitioner Rahima Khatun and Rahima Khatun of the voters' list of 1965 of village Matanga are not one and the same person.

¶4As the name of the petitioner appears in the voters' list of 1965 of village Matanga itself and she is persistently residing in the same village even as on today, we are of the view that the petitioner has discharged the burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 that she is an Indian citizen.

¶5Accordingly, we declare the petitioner Rahima Khatun to be an Indian citizen and she will be entitled to all such rights and liberties under the law that may be entitled to an Indian citizen. The impugned order dated 23.03.2021 in F.T. Case No. 27/BAKSA/2019 is set aside. Writ petition stands allowed as indicated above. Send back the LCR forthwith.

J U D G E Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010203422021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/1308/2022o RAHIMAoKHATUNo D/OoLATEoRAHMAToALIo W/OoLATEoOMARoALIo@oOMARoSHEIKHo R/OoVILL-oMATANGAo P.S.oSALBARI,oDIST.BAKSA,oASSAM VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo7oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARY,oMINISTRYoOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS,oGOVT.oOFoINDIA,o SHASTRIoBHAWAN,oNEWoDELHI-110001. 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oHOMEoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 3:THEoELECTIONoCOMMISSIONoOFoINDIA oREP.oBYoTHEoCHIEFoELECTIONoCOMMISSION oNIRVACHANoSADAN oASHOKAoROAD oNEWoDELHI-110001. 4:THEoSTATEoCOORDINATOR oNATIONALoREGISTRATIONoOFoCITIZENS oASSAM o1SToFLOOR oACHYUToPLAZA Page No.# 2/4 G.S. ROAD BHANGAGARH GUWAHATI ASSAM PIN-781005. 5:THE FOREIGNERS TRIBUNAL BAKSA BIST. BAKSA ASSAM PIN-781367 6:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER BAKSA P.O. BAKSA DIST. BAKSA ASSAM PIN-781372 7:THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (BORDER) BAKSA P.O. BAKSA DIST. BAKSA ASSAM PIN-781372 8:THE OFFICER-IN-CHARGE OF GOBARDHANA POLICE STATION P.O. SILBARI DIST. BAKSA ASSAM PIN-78131 Advocate for the Petitioner : MS. D GHOSH Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I. Page No.# 3/4 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NELSON SAILO