The Supreme Court on Monday held that the determination of citizenship and foreigner status must be undertaken through a fair, lawful and reasonable process, while setting aside judgments of the Gauhati High Court affirming the declaration of 27 individuals as foreigners.
The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta allowed a batch of 27 appeals and remanded the matters to the respective Foreigners Tribunals for fresh adjudication. The Court observed that questions relating to citizenship have profound constitutional implications and therefore require strict adherence to the principles of fairness and due process. Cases involving citizenship and foreigner status were of the utmost constitutional and legal importance, it noted.
At the same time, the Bench recognised the state’s legitimate interest in preventing illegal claims to Indian citizenship. It noted that the government was entitled to ensure that persons who were not legally eligible did not obtain citizenship through misuse of legal processes, false claims or by taking advantage of procedural delays.
However, the Bench emphasised that this objective cannot override procedural safeguards. It reiterated that while the burden of proving citizenship under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 continues to rest on the person concerned, such determination must nevertheless be carried out through a process that satisfies the requirements of fairness, legality and reasonableness.
The Court clarified that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the appellants’ citizenship claims or on the authenticity, admissibility or evidentiary value of the documents relied upon by them. Those issues, it said, must be independently examined by the concerned Foreigners Tribunals.
The Bench further made it clear that the remand does not create any equitable right in favour of the appellants. Rather, it is intended to ensure that the grave consequence of being declared a foreigner follows only after an adjudication that complies with the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964 and the constitutional mandate of fairness.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court set aside both the Gauhati High Court judgments and the corresponding opinions of the Foreigners Tribunals, directing the Tribunals to decide the cases afresh, uninfluenced by any observations made in the earlier proceedings.
The appeals arose from cases in which the Gauhati High Court had upheld ex parte orders declaring the appellants to be foreigners after finding that, despite service of notice, they had failed to appear before the Tribunals. The High Court had also noted that the challenge to the Tribunal’s opinion was brought nearly 23 years later.
While the High Court had observed that proceedings under the Foreigners Act should not become a mechanical exercise and that a proceedee must be afforded a fair opportunity to establish Indian citizenship, it held that such an opportunity could not be extended indefinitely. It further emphasised that, under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, the burden of proving Indian citizenship rests entirely on the proceedee and does not shift merely because the proceedings are conducted ex parte.
The Supreme Court has directed a fresh adjudication, underscoring that questions of citizenship must be decided through a process that inspires confidence in both its fairness and legality.
The post Supreme Court directs Gauhati High Court to decide afresh pleas of 27 individuals declared as foreigners appeared first on India Legal.