Musstt Joynab Bibi And 5 Ors vs Union Of India And 5 Ors

Heard Mr. A.I. Uddin, learned counsel for the petitioners as well as Ms. P. Baruah, learned counsel for respondent no.1 and Mr. A. Kalita, learned

counsel for respondent nos.2, 3, 4, 5 & 6. Petitioners assail the order dated 30.09.2016 passed by the Foreigners’ Tribunal No. 5th at Morigaon in

F.T.(C) Case No. 328/2016, declaring the petitioners as foreigners who entered illegally into India after 25.03.1971.

Petitioner nos.1 & 2 are wife and husband, petitioner nos.3 & 4 are their sons and the petitioner nos.5 & 6 are their daughters. In so far as petitioner

no.2 Jonab Ali is concerned, he claimed that his father is one late Hasen Ali and grandfather is one Sabu Seikh. Petitioners state that in the voter list

of 1966 (Exhibit-‘Ga’) and voter list of 1970 (Exhibit-‘Gha’), the name of Sabu/Abu Seikh appears. Reliance is also placed in the Exhibit-

‘Jha’, which is an undated document purportedly issued under the hand of the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Nagaon, certifying that on

checking the original NRC 1951, it was found that Hasen Ali (the projected father of the petitioner no.2) is the son of Sabu Seikh. For establishing the

linkage to Late Hasen Ali, one Bangshiram Saikia, being the Government Gaonburah of Jotiyabari, Nitmari, Kahitoli of Mouza-Bhuragaon, district-

Morigaon, issued two Certificates i.e. Exhibit-‘Ka’ dated 21.11.2013 and Exhibit-‘Kha’ dated 15.02.2014.

From the primary documents so exhibited it is seen that Jonab Ali tried to establish his link/lineage to his projected grandfather Sabu Seikh through the

undated NRC document i.e. Exhibit-‘Jha’ and to complete the chain he placed reliance on the Certificate issued by the Gaonburah i.e. Exhibit-

‘Ka’ & ‘Kha’.

First and foremost, although in the Certificates issued by the Government Gaonburah Bangshiram Saikia it is shown that one Late Hasen Ali is the

father of Jonab Ali, in his deposition before the Tribunal on 15.10.2014 he makes no mention of the fact that Late Hasen Ali is the father of Jonab Ali.

The stand of the Government Gaonburah, as appearing from the Certificates issued by him and his testimony before the Tribunal, the same are fret

with inconsistencies, making it unreliable to come to any aid of Jonab Ali. Further, the laminated folios, being the voter list of 1966 and 1970, which are

handwritten and in a deplorable condition and with names and endorsement made in different ink renders the same as unacceptable and untrustworthy

documents. In all, the documents relied upon by Jonab Ali to prove that he is not a foreigner/illegal migrant are wholly insufficient in the discharge of

his burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946. Jonab Ali utterly failed to establish his linkage with his projected father Hasen Ali and

thereafter to his projected grandfather Sabu Seikh by the documents produced and exhibited by him.

In so are as petitioner no.1 Joynab Bibi is concerned, she claimed that her father is one Jahir Ali. She exhibited the voter list of 1971 (Exhibit-

‘Niya’) for the purpose of showing that the same contained the name of her projected father. A bare perusal of the same shows that the voter

list of 1971 i.e. Exhibit-‘Niya’ do not record the name of Jahir Ali. All other voter lists are post 1971 list. Whereas the voter list of 1975

(Exhibit-‘Ta’) shows the name of one Jaher Ali, the voter list of 1997 (Exhibit-‘Tha’) is seen to record the names of Jonab Ali and

Joynab as voters and the voter list of 2013 (Exhibit-‘Da’) record the name of one Jonab Ali and Joynab Begum as voters. The voter lists as

above, apparently, do not give out a clear picture that Jahir Ali is the father of Joynab Bibi. To establish a link, the petitioner no.1 relied on the

Certificate dated 14.9.2014 issued by one Jyotish Deka, the Government Gaonburah (Exhibit-‘Na’). At the outset, we would hold that the said

Certificate (Exhibit-‘Na’) is without any evidentiary value, in that, the author of the said Certificate was never examined to prove the contents

of the same. Joynab Bibi i.e. the petitioner no.1 thus failed to establish linkage with her projected father Jahir Ali.

In conclusion, both the petitioner no.1 Joynab Bibi and the petitioner no.2 Jonab Ali failed to prove that they are Indian citizens and/or that they are not

foreigner/illegal migrants, which burden they are statutorily required to discharge under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946. The declaration that

they are foreigners/illegal migrants, would necessarily pass on to the petitioner nos.3 to 6, who are the sons and daughters of Jonab Ali and Joynab

Bibi. For the foregoing, we find no merit in this case. Accordingly, the present writ petition stands dismissed, however, without any order as to cost.

Registry to send back the case records to the Tribunal forthwith.