Abdur Rajjak v. The Union of India and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 23.06.2023 (AM Bujor Barua, J)

Heard Mr. AR Sikdar, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. L Devi, learned counsel for the respondents no. 1 and 8 being the authorities under the Union of India and NRC respectively, Ms. A Verma, learned counsel for the respondents no. 2, 3 and 5 being the authorities under the Home Department of Government of Assam, Ms. U Das, learned counsel for the respondent no. 4 and 6 being the Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup and the Page No.# 3/4 Deputy Commissioner, Goalpara respectively and Mr. T Pegu, learned counsel for the respondent no. 7 being the authorities under the Election Commission of India.

¶2The petitioner Abdur Rajjak had been referred to the Foreigners' Tribunal No. 3, Kamrup for rendering an opinion as to whether he is a foreigner within the meaning of Foreigners Act, 1946, resulting in registration of A.F.T. (R) 1149/17. The Tribunal rendered an opinion dated 08.10.2018 declaring the petitioner to be a foreigner.

¶3Being aggrieved, this writ petition is instituted.

¶4In the writ proceeding reliance is placed on the voters' list of 1961 of village Taparabhita Gol which contains the names of Hosenali Sheikh S/O Baccha at Sl. No. 38 and that of China Nessa W/O Hosenali at Sl. No. 39. It is claimed that Hosenali Sheikh is the grandfather and China Nessa is the grandmother of the petitioner where both are residing in the same house no.

¶18Further reliance is placed on the voters' list of 1970 of village Taparbhita which contains the name of Samsol Ali S/O Hosen Ali at Sl. No. 21. It is claimed that Samsol Ali is the father of the petitioner.

¶5Further reference is made to the voters' list of 1994 of village Taparbhita which contains the names of Abdur Rezzak S/O Samsul at Sl. No. 337 and that of Samsul Hoque S/O Hosen at Sl. No. 338 where both are residing in the same house no. 146.

¶6It is taken note that Samsul Hoque in the year 1994 was 48 years and Abdur Rezzak was 20 years and therefore, there could not be any possibility of the name of Abdur Rezzak appearing in the voters' list prior to 1994.

¶7In view of the above, the matter stands remanded back to the Tribunal to Page No.# 4/4 examine the voters' lists of 1961, 1966, 1970 and 1994 of village Taparbhita and pass a reasoned order. The petitioner to produce the complete voters' lists of village Taparbhita from the year 1961 to 1994 for examination of the Tribunal. The respondents in the Home Department to make their own enquiry and verification and thereafter, submit a report before the Tribunal as well as to verify as to whether the petitioner Abdur Rajjak and Abdur Rezzak of the 1994 voters' list of village Taparbhita are one and the same person. Upon doing the needful a reasoned order be passed by the Tribunal.

¶8The petitioner to appear before the Tribunal on 01.08.2023.

¶9If the order of the Tribunal is in favour of the petitioner, the same shall prevail over the opinion dated 08.10.2018 passed in A.F.T. (R) 1149/17 and if against, consequence under the law is applicable to the petitioner.

¶10Till the reasoned order is passed, no coercive action be taken against the petitioner.

Send back the LCR.

Writ petition stands disposed of in the above terms.

JUDGE JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010256292018 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/7987/2018o ABDURoRAJJAKo S/O-oSAMSULoHOQUEo@oSAMSULoALI,oVILL-oTAPARBHITA,oP.S-oBAGUAN,o,o P.O-oAMBARIBAZAR,oDIST-oGOALPARA,oASSAM,oPIN-o783129 VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo7oORSo TOoBEoREPoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoMINoOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS,oGOVToOFo INDIA,oNEWoDELHI-o1,oINDIA 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVToOFoASSAM oHOMEoDEPTT oDISPUR oGHY-o06 3:THEoSUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICEo(B) oKAMRUP(R) oP.O-oAMINGAON oDIST-oKAMRUP(R) oASSAM oPIN-o781031 4:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oKAMRUP(R) oP.O-oAMINGAON oDIST-oKAMRUP(R) oASSAM oPIN-o781031 5:SUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICE(B) oGOALPARA Page No.# 2/4 P.O AND DIST- GOALPARA ASSAM PIN- 783121 6:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER GOALPARA P.O AND DIST- GOALPARA ASSAM PIN- 783121 7:THE ELECTION COMMISSIONER OF INDIA NEW DELHI- 01 8:THE NRC COORDINATOR NRC ASSAM BHANGAGARH GUWAHATI- 0 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A R SIKDAR Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ROBIN PHUKAN