Don’t deport 5 residents declared foreigners by tribunal, Gauhati HC to govt

Mohan Lal Das (72) said his family came to Assam in 1964 from then East Bangladesh and the tribunal had erred in its conclusion

SILCHAR: The Gauhati high court told the government not to deport five residents of Assam’s Cachar district who were declared foreigners by a tribunal on May 21 this year. The high court said the tribunal didn’t mention, under which stream these people were foreigners and the matter needed further determination.

The Gauhati high court told the government not to deport the petitioners who were declared foreigners by a tribunal in May this year

“Until further order of the court, the petitioners shall not be deported from the territory of India. Since the petitioners have been declared to be foreigners under the Foreigners Act, they shall appear before the Superintendent of Police (Border), Cachar on or before September 30, along with a certified copy of this order,” a bench of justices Manash Ranjan Pathak and Mitali Thakuria said in its September 16 order.

The bench noted that the foreigner tribunal-4 did not indicate under which stream (whether on or after 01.01.1966 or on or after 25.03.1971) the petitioners had illegally entered Assam and the matter should be adjudicated further. The bench has sought all records of the case.

The petition against the tribunal’s verdict was filed by 72-year-old Mohan Lal Das and four members of his family who were dubbed foreigners in May this year. Proceedings against them were filed in 2017.

Mohan Lal Das contended that his forefathers moved to India from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) before 1964 and he has adequate documents to prove that their family has been living in India before 1965.

“We live in an area which is almost 50 kilometres from the tribunal, still we visited there several times. We produced documents but still the member declared us foreigner. Now the high court has given us a hope,” he said on the interim relief