Release woman first declared Indian, then ‘foreigner’ by tribunal in Assam, orders Gauhati HC

The Gauhati High Court has ordered that a woman first declared Indian, and less than five years later a “foreigner” by a tribunal, be released from detention in Assam.

In 2016, a foreigners’ tribunal in Assam’s Darrang district had said that Hasina Bhanu was not a “foreigner/illegal migrant”. Foreigners’ tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies tasked with deciding on matters of disputed nationality.

However, the Assam Police in 2017 again referred her case to the tribunal, suspecting her to be a Bangladeshi national, The Indian Express reported.

After that, in March 2021, the tribunal declared that she was a foreigner. In October, she was sent to a detention camp in Tezpur.

The woman then filed a petition before the Gauhati High Court, challenging the foreigners’ tribunals opinion. On Monday, the court set aside the order.

The High Court cited a judgement of the Supreme Court which said that the principle of res judicata also applied to proceedings before foreigners tribunals.

The principle states that a matter disposed of by a court is considered as adjudicated upon, unless it is challenged in a higher court. “We are unable to understand how the tribunal proceeded to examine the matter and made the aforesaid observation,” the High Court said in its order.

The Gauhati High Court added: “[The]…

Read more