Assam: SC sets aside foreigner tags for 27 people, orders fresh hearings

The Supreme Court on Monday set aside 27 judgments of the Gauhati High Court that had upheld Foreigners Tribunal orders declaring the appellants as foreigners in Assam, directing that their citizenship cases be heard afresh.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta remanded all 27 cases to the Foreigners Tribunals concerned for fresh adjudication, stressing that the determination of citizenship carries significant constitutional implications.

The top court said the process of deciding whether a person is an Indian citizen must be fair, lawful and reasonable, given the serious consequences that may follow a declaration of a person as a foreigner.

The 27 appellants had approached the Supreme Court against separate judgments of the Gauhati High Court. The High Court had upheld orders passed by Foreigners Tribunals declaring them foreigners.

By setting aside the High Court judgments, the Supreme Court has now directed the respective tribunals to reconsider the cases and conduct fresh adjudication.

The ruling assumes significance in Assam, where Foreigners Tribunals are tasked with determining whether individuals referred to them by the authorities are Indian citizens or foreigners.

Such proceedings have remained a sensitive legal and political issue in the state, where questions of citizenship and undocumented migration have dominated public discourse for decades.

The Supreme Court's order underlines the need for procedural fairness while adjudicating citizenship disputes, particularly because a finding against an individual can have far-reaching consequences for their legal status and rights.

The bench's emphasis on a "fair, lawful and reasonable process" also places the focus on the manner in which Foreigners Tribunals examine evidence and arrive at their findings in citizenship cases.

The court, however, has not declared the 27 appellants to be Indian citizens. Instead, it has set aside the earlier decisions against them and reopened their cases for fresh consideration by the tribunals concerned.

The Foreigners Tribunals will now be required to adjudicate the 27 cases afresh in accordance with the Supreme Court's directions.

Further details of the judgment and the court's observations in the batch of cases are awaited.