Supreme Court to Review Case of Muslim Woman Deemed Foreigner in Assam

Legal Challenge Against Foreigners Tribunal Ruling

A Muslim woman, expelled from India last December, has approached the Supreme Court to contest a ruling from the Gauhati High Court that declined to hear her appeal against a tribunal's decision labeling her a foreigner.

In September 2019, the foreigners' tribunal classified Aheda Khatun as a foreigner, citing her inability to prove her lineage to Indian parents and grandparents.

The tribunal overlooked several key documents, including four consecutive voter lists indicating her parents as electors, her school certificate, a Gaonburah certificate from the village chief, and a registered gift deed for land given to her by her father.

In Assam, foreigners tribunals function as quasi-judicial entities that resolve citizenship issues. However, they have faced criticism for their perceived arbitrariness and bias, often declaring individuals as foreigners due to minor errors or insufficient documentation.

Khatun had been detained until the High Court dismissed her plea in August, stating it would not intervene in her case.

The court pointed to Khatun's inability to justify the six-year delay in contesting the tribunal's ruling, without addressing the substance of her claims.

On December 17, Khatun was among 15 individuals identified as foreigners by the Assam government, which mandated their expulsion under the 1950 Immigrants Expulsion from Assam Act. Currently, she remains in Bangladesh.

This Act empowers district commissioners and senior police officials to expel 'illegal migrants' from the state without going through the foreigners tribunals.

In her Supreme Court petition, Khatun contends that the High Court's ruling infringed upon her personal liberty and challenges the tribunal's decision.

On Monday, a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued a notice to the Assam government, requesting verification of the authenticity of the documents her family is using to assert their citizenship.

The authorities must respond by March 16.

Khatun's petition states that she was born in Nagaon district in July 1981, with her parents' names appearing consistently in voter lists from 1965 to 1997. Her father inherited ancestral land in 1987, part of which he gifted to Khatun in 2010.

The legal proceedings against Khatun began with a police reference allegedly made in 1998, culminating in the tribunal's ruling in 2019. She claims this reference was based on a report from the electoral registration officer, without any notice being served to her.

Supreme Court Issues Notice in Related Case

On January 8, the Supreme Court also issued a notice to the Union government regarding another woman who is contesting a 2020 Gauhati High Court ruling that upheld a 2015 foreigners' tribunal decision in Kokrajhar district, which declared her a foreigner in an ex-parte ruling.

Her lawyer reported that she was forced into Bangladesh two to three weeks ago.

The High Court's 2020 ruling noted that the woman had appeared before the tribunal in 2009, with her statement recorded in 2011. However, the court observed that she ceased attending tribunal hearings and refused to accept a notice due to inaccuracies regarding her husband's name.

The High Court concluded that the tribunal had correctly determined the name was accurately represented and that the woman had 'deliberately avoided' the proceedings, leading to the tribunal's declaration of her as a foreigner in December 2015.

The High Court also acknowledged her claim that her home was destroyed during a riot in 2012.

The riots in Kokrajhar that year involved clashes between Bodos and Bengali-origin Muslims, resulting in approximately 100 fatalities and displacing around 400,000 individuals.

The High Court cited the woman’s statement that the riots forced her into a relief camp in Dhubri, complicating her ability to communicate with her lawyer.

She was arrested in 2019 and has since been held at the Kokrajhar detention facility.

Since April, numerous individuals have been expelled to Bangladesh after allegedly failing to prove their Indian citizenship. In some instances, those mistakenly sent to Bangladesh have returned after Indian authorities confirmed their citizenship.