SC stays deportation of four declared foreigners by Assam tribunals
· Scroll
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the deportation of four women declared foreigners by tribunals in Assam, Live Law reported.
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The bench issued notice to the Centre, the Assam government and the Election Commission, seeking their reply on the separate pleas within a month, The New Indian Express reported.
The pleas
Saleha Khatun, has been held at the Goalpara detention camp since March 2, The Indian Express reported. The 50-year-old said that a tribunal at Darrang had declared her a foreigner.
The Gauhati High Court had upheld the order by the foreigners tribunal.
The foreigners tribunals in Assam are quasi-judicial bodies that adjudicate on matters of citizenship based on lineage and a 1971 cut-off date. They rely primarily on documents submitted by persons to establish their family’s residency in Assam or India before 1971.
Those declared foreigners by the tribunals have the option to appeal the decision before the High Court or the Supreme Court.
Foreigners’ tribunals have been accused of arbitrariness and bias, and declaring persons foreigners on the basis of minor spelling mistakes, a lack of documents or lapses in memory.
Saleha Khatun stated in her plea that she had submitted evidence before the tribunal showing that she is the daughter of Indian citizens who were in the pre-1971 voter list of Nagabandha village in Nagaon district, Live Law reported.
The woman also stated that she had submitted other evidence such as linkage certificates, her...