In this writ petition challenging a Foreigners Tribunal order, the Gauhati High Court examined evidence regarding the petitioner's citizenship by birth. The Court found discrepancies in voter lists and noted the petitioner failed to prove a consistent chain of evidence linking his lineage, dismissing the petition.
The writ petition was dismissed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
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GAHC010145362019
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
Case No. : WP(C) 5637/2019
1:TARA MIA
S/O- JAYED ALI, VILL- JORSIMALU, P.S- CHHAYGAON, DIST- KAMRUP, PIN- 781136, ASSAM
VERSUS
1:THE UNION OF INDIA AND 5 ORS
REP. BY THE SECRETARY TO THE GOVT OF INDIA, MIN OF HOME AFFAIRS, NEW DELHI- 110001
2:THE CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER OF INDIA NIRVACHAN SADAN ASHOKA ROAD NEW DELHI- 110001
3:THE STATE OF ASSAM
REP. BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVT OF ASSAM HOME DEPTT DISPUR GUWAHATI- 781006
4:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KAMRUP (M) DIST- KAMRUP(M) ASSAM KAMRUP (M)- 787057
5:THE SUPERINTENDENT OF FT(B) KAMRUP (M) DIST- KAMRUP (M) ASSAM
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KAMRUP(M) PIN- 787057
6:THE STATE COORDINATOR NRC ASSAM 1ST FLOOR ACHYUT PLAZA BHANGAGARH GUWAHATI- 78100
Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. S S S RAHMAN
Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I.
BEFORE
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANOJIT BHUYAN HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE AJIT BORTHAKUR
ORDER
Date : 06-11-2019 (Ajit Borthakur, J)
Heard Mr. S.S.S. Rahman, learned counsel for the petitioner as well as Ms. G. Hazarika, learned counsel representing respondent No. 1 whereas Ms. B. Das, learned counsel appears for respondent No. 2. Mr. U.K. Nair, learned Senior counsel appears for respondent Nos. 3 to 5. Ms. A. Verma, learned counsel appears for respondent No. 6.
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| 1. | Certified copy of Draft Chitha -Ext.-A |
|---|---|
| 2. | Certified copy of Voters List of 1966 -Ext.-B |
| 3. | Certified copy of Voters List of 1970 -Ext.-C |
| 4. | Certified copy of Voters List of 1977 -Ext.-D |
| 5. | Certified copy of Voters List of 1985 -Ext.-E |
| 6. | Certified copy of Voters List of 1997 -Ext.-F |
| 7. | Certified copy of Voters List of 2005 -Ext.-G |
| 8. | Certified copy of Voters List of 2010 -Ext.-H |
| 9. | Certified copy of Voters List of 2016 -Ext.-I |
| 10. | Certificate issued by Gaonburha (Birth Place) -Ext.-J |
| 11. | Certificate issued by Gaonburha (Birth Place) -Ext.-K |
| 12. | Certificate issued by Gaonburha (present place) -Ext.-L |
| 13. | Name correction Affidavit -Ext.-M |
| 14. | Photocopy of Voters List of 2018. -Annexure-1 |
“ From the records, it appears that O.P. has projected one Gajar Ali S/o Adom Sheikh as his grandfather, Jariman Nessa as his grandmother, Abed Ali as his uncle, and Jaidali as his father, whose names appeared in Exhibits- A, B, C and D. Exhibit -E is the Voter List of 1985, wherein Jayed Ali S/o Rajar Ali and Sahera khatun W/o Jayed Ali have been shown as voters of Jorsimalu Gosputa village under No. 49 Chaygaon LAC. O.P. has also projected Jayed Ali S/o Rajar Ali as his father and Sahera W/o Jayed Ali as his mother. In the evidence-onaffidavit, O.P. stated that his parents had shifted to Jorsimalu village from Baghber Gohaipara alongwith him. O.P. had not stated anything in his W/S as well as in his evidence-in-affidavit about the shifting of his grandparents, i.e., whether they had continued to stay at Baghber Gohaipara village or shifted to other village. O.P. has not been able to submit any Voters List, wherein the names of his projected grandparents appeared in any Voters list, after 1977. It is
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found that in the Voters List of 1997 of village Jorsimuli under No. 49 Chaygaon LAC (Ext.- F). O.P.’s name appeared alongwith that of his projected father namely, Jayed Ali S/o Rajar Ali, his projected mother namely, Sahera W/o Jayed Ali, Mamtaz W/o Tara and Samsul S/o Jayed. In the aforesaid Voters List, O.P. is shown as 23 years old and his projected mother namely, Sahera W/o Jayed Ali, Mamtaz W/o Tara and Samsul S/o Jayed. In the aforesaid Voters List, O.P. is shown as 23 years old and his projected mother as 32 years old and accordingly it can be assumed that when O.P. was born, his mother was then only 9 years old, which is evidently very much absurd. O.P’s projected father is shown as S/o Rajar Ali of village Jorsimalu Gosputa in Exhibits- E, F, G, H and I and Gajar Ali is shown as S/o Adam, who was a resident of Baghber Gohaipara village, in Exhibits- A, B, C and D. By going through the Exhibits- E, F, G, H and I, it would not be possible on the part of anyone to know as to who was the father of Rajar Ali. Though O.P. has submitted an affidavit (Ext. -M) with an intention to clear the doubts in respect of the names of his projected father, grandfather and grandmother, it must be clarified here that an affidavit being merely a self-declaration only, it has no evidentiary value. Though O.P. has submitted Exhibits- J, K and L, he has not been able to examine the Issuing Authorities of the said corticates and therefore, the said documents are not admissible and acceptable in the eye of law. It would be pertinent to point out here that during crossexamination, O.P. stated that though he had submitted a certificate from the Gaonburha of village Baghber Gohaipara, he did not know his name. The inability on the part of O.P. to ensure the attendance of both the Gaonburhas as DW3 and DW4 before this Tribunal for cross-examination naturally raises questions and doubts in the mind. Annexure- 1 is only a photocopy of a Voter List of 2018 and therefore, it cannot be considered as a valid piece of documentary evidence. During cross-examination, O.P. stated that he has submitted his Birth Certificate and also a Permanent Residentship Certificate in respect of Jorsimalu village. O.P. further stated that his parents and grandparents had come alongwith him to Jorsimalu village 40 years back. Thus, the statements, which were made by O.P. during his cross-examination totally contradicted the statements made by him in his evidence-on-affidavit. There is nothing to show that the name of O.P.’s projected grandparents had appeared in any Voters List or any other acceptable document alongwith that of O.P. or with that of his projected parents in Jorsimalu village. Moreover, there is no record to show that O.P. had submitted his Birth Certificate and PRC alongwith his evidence-on-affidavit. O.P. further stated that the land shown as per Exhibit- A is still in the name of his grandfather, a fact which has been found difficult to digest. In fact, nothing is known about the present status of the land in question as no further documents have been submitted in support of the claim made by O.P.
At the time of cross-examination, Jayed Ali (DW 2) stated that O.P. was born in the
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year 1997 at village Baghber Gohaipara. On the other hand, in the evidence-on-affidavit, O.P. had stated that he alongwith his parents shifted to village Jorsimalu and the name of his projected parents appeared in the Voters List of 1985. Thus, the evidence of DW2 has not corroborated the evidence of the Opposite Party. Moreover, DW2 has not submitted his Elector Photo Identity Card or any other valid document so as to disclose his actual and proper Identity.”
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when such shifting had taken place. There is even no document of the local revenue authority showing that due to river erosion, he, who lived with the grandfather of the petitioner had to leave the village Baghber Gohainpara for village Jorsimlu Gaspota with intent to settle there permanently. There is also no revenue document or any other exhibited documents to show that D.W. 2 along with his son settled in village Jorsimalu Gaspota. We do not see any reason to disbelieve the copy of Jamabandi mutating a plot of land of village Baghber Gosaipara, during the period 1957-64 in favour of one Gajar Ali, son of Adam Sheikh by right of inheritance.
The writ petition is disposed of.
JUDGE JUDGE
Comparing Assistant
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the petitioner is a citizen of India by birth based on the evidence of voter lists and certificates.
Whether the petitioner established a consistent and unbroken chain of evidence to link his lineage to his projected father and grandparents.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
Tara Mia
The Union of India
The State of Assam
The State Coordinator NRC Assam
Manojit Bhuyan
Ajit Borthakur
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
