The Supreme Court of India set aside Gauhati High Court rulings declaring 27 appellants as foreigners and remanded the cases for fresh adjudication by Foreigners Tribunals. The Court stressed that citizenship issues require fair, lawful and reasonable procedures.
The Supreme Court set aside a batch of judgments of the Gauhati High Court that had upheld orders declaring 27 appellants as foreigners. The Court remanded the matters to the respective Foreigners Tribunals for fresh adjudication.
A Bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta allowed the appeals.
It held that issues concerning citizenship and foreigner status involve fair, lawful and reasonable procedures because of their profound constitutional significance.
The Court observed,
“Citizenship and foreigner status occupy a field of high constitutional and legal significance,”
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At the same time, the Court acknowledged the State’s legitimate aim of preventing unlawful claims to Indian citizenship.
The Bench said,
“The State has a legitimate and compelling interest in ensuring that persons who are not legally entitled to claim Indian citizenship do not secure such status by misuse of process, by false claim or by taking advantage of delays,”
The Supreme Court, however, made it clear that these concerns cannot override procedural fairness.
It added,
“At the same time, the determination of such status must be made through a process which is fair, lawful and reasonable. The statutory burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 remains fully applicable,”
Clarifying the nature and scope of its interference, the Bench stated that it had not examined the merits of the appellants’ citizenship claims.
The Court said,
“We have not examined the merits of the claims of citizenship by the appellants or expressed any opinion on the genuineness, admissibility, relevance or sufficiency of any document relied upon by them. Those questions must be decided by the concerned Tribunal independently,”
The Court also emphasised that the remand is not meant to grant any equitable relief to the appellants.
The Bench observed,
“The remand being directed is not intended to confer any equity in favour of a person who is unable to establish his or her claim. It is only to ensure that the serious consequence of being declared a foreigner follows from an adjudication which satisfies the requirements of the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, and the constitutional mandate of fairness,”
Accordingly, the Supreme Court quashed both the Gauhati High Court judgments and the corresponding Tribunal opinions and orders. It directed that the concerned Tribunals must re-decide the cases afresh, without being influenced by any observations contained in the High Court’s rulings or in the earlier Tribunal decisions.
The Court directed,
“The concerned Tribunals shall decide the cases afresh and uninfluenced by any of the observations made by the High Court or by the Tribunals in the earlier opinions,”
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In the lead matter, the Gauhati High Court had rejected a challenge to an ex parte order of a Foreigners Tribunal that had declared the petitioners to be foreigners.
The High Court recorded that notices had been served, but the petitioners did not appear before the Tribunal and challenged the order only after about 23 years.
The High Court held that, in the absence of any written statement, documents, or evidence from the petitioners, the Tribunal had no option but to affirm the reference. It relied on Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and observed that the burden of proving Indian citizenship lies entirely with the proceedee and does not shift even in ex parte proceedings.