GUWAHATI: The Gauhati high court has set aside a foreigners’ tribunal’s ruling that declared an 85-year-old Gorkha resident of Assam as an illegal immigrant and ordered ₹10,000 compensation for Jagat Bahadur Chetri who was first classified as a ‘doubtful voter’ (D-Voter) by an election official. The high court told the election department to identify the official who classified Chetri as a D-Voter and get him to pay ₹10,000.
Disposing of a petition filed in 2019, a bench of justices Achintya Malla Bujor Barua and Robin Phukan said this was a case of “non-application of mind” by the election official.
“If Chetri was born in 1937 and his birthplace is Dibrugarh, and there is no material (to demonstrate) that subsequent to his birth, he migrated to the specified territory (Bangladesh) and thereafter re-entered Assam subsequent to March 25, 1971, we are of the view that it was an absolute non-application of mind on the part of the ERO (electoral registration officer),” the high court said in its order on Monday.
Chetri was classified as a D-Voter in electoral rolls based on a reference by the Dispur assembly seat ERO who raised questions on his citizenship. This was done despite an on-spot verification by an officer of the geology and mining department of Assam who verified that Chetri was born in 1937 at Dibrugarh in Assam.
In Assam, persons who entered the state after March 25, 1971 (when Bangladesh was created) can be classified as illegal immigrants unless they have documents to prove otherwise. Those who are suspected to be foreigners are also marked as D-Voters in electoral rolls.
Following the ERO’s reference, a case under the (now-abolished) Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act was registered against Chetri in 2000 and another case about his D-Voter status with the foreigners’ tribunal of Kamrup (Metropolitan) district in 2011.
It was only during proceedings at the high court that it transpired that Chetri had served in the Indian Army for 38 years from 1963 till his retirement in 2001. He had served as a defence civilian at the 14 Field Ammunition Depot of Indian Army at Satgaon under Narengi army cantonment in Guwahati.
The high court said the reference made by the ERO was “not maintainable in law” and also set aside the opinion of the foreigners’ tribunal that declared him as an illegal immigrant in 2012.
“However, for causing inconvenience to the petitioner (Chetri) without any reasonable cause and without any application of mind, a cost of ₹10,000 is imposed on the ERO of Dispur assembly constituency to be paid to the petitioner,” the order read.
The high court held that the cost will be paid by Assam’s election office, which may be recovered from the person who was serving as the ERO of Dispur at the relevant point of time when the reference was made.
“It is also provided the petitioner shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges as a citizen of India as may be admissible under the law,” the order added.
