Gauhati HC Dismisses Writ Petition Filed Against Barpeta FT’s Verdict

Guwahati, June 14, 2019:

The Gauhati High Court has dismissed the writ petition filed by one Anil Barman who was declared a foreigner by Foreigners Tribunal of Barpeta in last September.

The High Court dismissed the petition on the ground that the petitioner could not prove his presence in Assam before 1971.

In the petition filed in the High Court challenging the Tribunal's findings, the petitioner referred to a Relief Eligibility Certificate issued by the Government of India. As per the  Relief Eligibility Certificate, one Anil Barman aged 14 years entered India on April 9 1965.

He also cited the voters list of 1989, where his name was entered.

However, the Division Bench of Justices Manojit Bhuyan and Prasanta Kumar Deka of Gauhati HC noted that the name of his father Umesh as per the voter's list was not mentioned in the Relief Eligibility Certificate.

The persons named in the said certificate were his elder brothers, mother, aunt and a nephew, with one Lal Mohan Barman as the head of the family migrating into India.

Also, in none of the voters list prior to 1989, his name figured, though he had attained the eligible age to vote in 1975.

“We are satisfied that the order/opinion of the Tribunal was rendered upon due appreciation of the entire facts, evidence and documents brought on record. We find no infirmity in the findings and opinion of the Tribunal, " the division bench said.

"We would observe that the certiorari jurisdiction of the writ court being supervisory and not appellate jurisdiction, this Court would refrain from reviewing the findings of facts reached by the Tribunal,” the division bench observed.

“We, therefore, find no merit in the writ petition. Accordingly, the same stands dismissed, however, without any order as to cost,” the HC verdict said.

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