Inclusion in draft NRC does not override foreigners tribunal’s declaration as non-citizen: SC

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that an individual’s name being listed in the draft National Register of Citizens of 2018 does not overrule a prior declaration by a Foreigners Tribunal that the person is a foreigner.

The bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Manoj Misra upheld a Gauhati High Court decision which had declined to overturn the tribunal’s 2017 finding against a man named Rofiqul Hoque.

Foreigners Tribunals in Assam are quasi-judicial bodies that adjudicate on matters of citizenship.

In 2016, the Sivasagar Police in Assam had made a reference to the Foreigners Tribunal, alleging that Hoque was a foreigner who had entered India without documentation after March 25, 1971. Only those living in the state before March 25, 1971, or their descendants, qualify as Indian citizens in Assam, as per the Assam Accord.

Hoque submitted several documents before the tribunal to prove his Indian citizenship, including voter lists showing that his grandfather’s name was in the voter list of 1966, while his grandmother’s name was in the voter list of 1970. He also submitted his own duplicate school leaving certificate.

The tribunal, however, said that the place of residence of Hoque’s grandfather, as listed in voter lists, was in a different village from the one that Hoque had claimed. On March 4, 2017, the...

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