Gauhati High Court
Page No.# 1/8 vs The Union Of India And 5 Ors on 19 November, 2025
Author: Kalyan Rai Surana
Bench: Kalyan Rai Surana
Page No.# 1/8
GAHC010017622019
2025:GAU-AS:15931
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT
(HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
Case No. : WP(C)/624/2019
OMARJAN BIBI @ AMARTAN NESSA @ BEGUM
D/O- LATE SAMED ALI, W/O- KASEM ALI, R/O- VILL. NO. 3 LARKUCHI, P.S.-
MUKALMUA, DIST- NALBARI, ASSAM, PIN CODE- 781312.
VERSUS
THE UNION OF INDIA AND 5 ORS.
TO BE REP. BY THE SECRETARY TO THE GOVT.OF INDIA, DEPTT. OF
HOME HOME AFFAIRS, NEW DELHI-1.
2:THE STATE OF ASSAM
TO BE REP. BY THE SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM
DEPTT. OF HOME
DISPUR
GUWAHATI-06.
3:THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (B)
NALBARI
DIST. NALBARI
ASSAM
PIN CODE- 781335.
4:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER
NALBARI
DIST.- NALBARI
ASSAM
PIN CODE- 781335.
5:THE ELECTION COMMISSIONER OF INDIA
NEW DELHI-1.
6:THE STATE CO-ORDINATOR OF N.R.C.
Page No.# 2/8
BHANGAGARH
GUWAHATI-5
Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A R SIKDAR, MR. A MANNAF
Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I., SC, F.T,MR J PAYENG,SC, NRC,MS. A VERMA,SC,
ECI,MR. D BARUAH
BEFORE
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KALYAN RAI SURANA
HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE SUSMITA PHUKAN KHAUND
JUDGMENT AND ORDER (CAV)
Date : 19-11-2025
(S.P. Khaund, J)
1. The petitioner, Omarjan Bibi @Amartan Nessa @ Begum is aggrieved by
the judgment and order dated 12.11.2018, passed by the learned
Member, Foreigner's Tribunal, No. 3, Nalbari in FT Case No. 189/2018,
arising out of [IM(D)T] Case No. 619/2002.
2. It is submitted that the learned Tribunal has erroneously held the
petitioner to be a foreigner only by the certificate issued by the Gaon
Panchayat Secretary. It is further submitted that the petitioner exhibited
voters list of 1966,1970,1985,1997,2005 and 2014, but the voters list
reflecting the petitioner's grandparents have not been taken into
consideration which could have proved the lineage of the petitioner with
her grandparents. The voters lists figuring the names of her grandparents
have been exhibited. Land documents have also been exhibited and the
land document dates back to 1947/1948 but this has also been
erroneously discarded by the learned Tribunal.
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3. It is further submitted that the learned Tribunal heavily relied on the two
documents marked as Exhibits-6 & 7 and ignored the documents which
were marked as Exhibits-1,2,3,4 & 5. A close scrutiny of the opinion of
the Tribunal reveals that the prime documents relied on by the petitioner
have not been taken into consideration. Without any discussions on these
important documents marked as Exhibits-1,2,3,4 & 5, the petitioners case
was dismissed. These documents have not been carefully scrutinized and
analyzed and these documents easily proves the citizenship of the
petitioner.
4. Per contra, learned standing counsel for the FT and Border Matters, Mr.
G. Sharma laid stress in his argument that the learned Tribunal did not
find it necessary to discuss the Exhibits-1,2,3,4 & 5, as these exhibits will
not help improve the petitioner's case. The petitioner failed to establish
her linkage with her projected parents and grandparents and thus the
opinion impugned by the petitioner does not require any interference.
5. Heard Mr. A. R. Sikdar, learned counsel for the petitioner; Ms. R. Devi,
learned CGC, Mr. G. Sharma, learned standing counsel for the FT and
Border matters, Mr. N. Kalita, learned standing counsel appearing on
behalf of Mr. A. I. Ali, learned standing counsel for the ECI and Mr. H. K.
Hazarika, learned Junior Govt. Advocate for the respondents.
6. We have given a thoughtful consideration to the submissions at the bar.
At first blush, the decision of the learned Tribunal clearly indicates that
the Tribunal has decided the case on the basis of two documents marked
as Exhibits- 6 & 7. The validity of these documents as evidence has been
elaborately discussed by the Tribunal and reasons have been assigned
while dismissing the other documents marked as Exhibits-1,2,3,4 & 5.
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7. It has been held by the learned Tribunal that the petitioner has failed to
discharge her burden of proof as envisaged under Section 9 of the
Foreigners Act, 1946. It was observed by the Tribunal that the petitioner
has deposed that her age was 34 years on 18.08.2018. Exhibit-7 reveals
that the date of birth of Amartan Nessa @Begum was 01.05.1985. On
perusal of Exhibit- 8, it was found that in the year 2015, petitioner was 20
years old and her marriage was performed on 20.07.2002, which shows
that she was born in the year 1995 and her marriage was performed
while she was 7 years old. The Tribunal has observed that Exhibit-6 was
issued by the witness, OPW-3, Secretary of Gaon Panchayat, who has
deposed that they have not maintained any register in respect of issuance
of certificates and at the time of issuance of certificate, they verified the
certificate issued by the village Headman. OPW-3, Sri Sambhunath
Talukdar deposed that they have issued the certificate only on the basis
of the school certificate. After scrutinizing the certificate, it was held by
the Tribunal that the certificate was issued by Secretary of Gaon
Panchayat in favour of a person whose marriage appears to have been
performed at the age of 7 years, that too without verifying any age proof
as well as legacy data or other admissible documents, which has been
stated in the 'DISCLAIMER' portion of Exhibit-6. It was also observed by
the Tribunal that no issue number was found in the certificate issued by
OPW-3. The Exhibit-7 was not accepted as evidence as the petitioner has
failed to examine the issuing authority to prove Exhibit-7.
8. Although, the learned Tribunal has relied heavily on Exhibits- 6 & 7, a
close scrutiny of the opinion reveals that discussions relating to the
validity of Exhibits- 1,2,3,4 & 5 is lacking in the opinion. The Tribunal has
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not attributed any reasons while abstaining from considering the Exhibits-
1,2,3,4 & 5.
9. The petitioner has adduced evidence of 4 witnesses and has exhibited
11 documents. The petitioner introduced herself as Omarjan Bibi
@Amartan Nessa @Begum, D/O late Samed Ali,
A resident of Village- No. 3, Larkuchi,
P. S.- Mukalmua,
District- Nalbari
The petitioner, as OPW-1, deposed that, she was born and brought up in
Village No. 2, Larkuchi,
Mukalmua P. S.,
District-Nalbari,
Father's name is- Late Samed Ali,
Mother's name is- Sorbhanu Bibi @Begum, and
Grandfather's name- Late Bahadur Ali.
The petitioner stated that, her grandfather, namely Bahadur had rented
property as annual kheraj patta for the year, 1947/48 of,
Village- Nadia,
District- Kamrup,
Patta No. 33 issued by Deputy Commissioner/Settlement Officer,
Nalbari dated 03.11.1949.
This land document was marked as Exhibit-1.
10. The petitioner has also stated that her grandfather, namely Bahadur Ali,
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had landed property appertaining to annual kheraj patta of the year
1948/49 of,
Village- Nadia,
District- Kamrup,
Vide patta No. 35 issued by the Deputy Commissioner/Settlement
Officer, Nalbari dated 20.11.1948
This land document was marked as Exhibit-2.
11. The petitioner has stated that, her father's name, Samed Ali, son of
Bahadur, has appeared in the NRC voter details of the year 1966, vide
legacy data code no. 180-4051-7552, Image ID. 08203607 of,
Village- Belbeli,
Under 54 No. Chenga LAC,
District-Kamrup.
The petitioner has further marked Exhibit-3 which is the voters list of
1966 and her father's name appears in the voters list
Under 54 No. Chenga LAC,
Vide Serial No. 85,
House No. 25, Part No. 17 of Village-Belbeli
Under Nalbari P.S.,
District-Kamrup.
12. Although the petitioner has stated about the voters list of 1970, the
record reveals that no voters list of 1970 has been exhibited by the
petitioner. At this juncture, the petitioner as OPW-1 has stated that after
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erosion of river Brahmaputra, her father shifted his residence from village
Belbeli to No. 2 Larkuchi under Mukalmua P.S., which is a nearby village.
The petitioner has further exhibited the voters list of 1985 as Exhibit-4,
which is extracted herein below:-
Certified copy of Voters List of 1985
State- Assam. Police Station-Mukalmua
District-Nalbari Mouza-Pachim Barkhetri
Sub-Division-Nalbari Village- No. 2 Larkuchi
Constituency-60 No. Barkhetri LAC Part No.- 12
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
The other documents exhibited by the petitioner are as follows:-
(i) Exhibit-5:- Certified copy of voters list of 1997,
(ii) Exhibit-6:- Certificate of Gaon Panchayat, Secretary,
(iii) Exhibit-7:- Copy of Pan card,
(iv) Exhibit-8:- Certified copy of voters list of 2005,
(v) Exhibit-9:- Certified copy of voters list of 2014,
(vi) Exhibit-10:- Certified copy of voters list of 2017,
(vii) Exhibit-11:- Gaonburha certificate.
13. Without getting into the details of each and every document marked
as exhibits, it is pertinent to mention that all these exhibits also find a
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place in the pleadings. All these exhibits are clearly mentioned as
annexures in the pleadings. This is not a case where these exhibits are
not referred to in the pleadings, but the learned Tribunal has not assigned
any reasons why these exhibits have not been taken into consideration
while deciding the petitioner's citizenship.
14. The original record of the Tribunal also reveals that as the petitioner
is identified by two names, i.e., Omarjan Bibi and Amartan Nessa
@Begum, an order was passed by the Tribunal directing the S.P.(Border),
Nalbari, to find out the actual name of the petitioner and submit a report.
This process was not completed. Thus, it is apparent that this case was
not decided conclusively.
15. In view of the foregoing discussions, this case is remanded back to
the Tribunal to consider the entire documentary as well as the oral
evidence already adduced by the petitioner and decide the matter in
accordance with law.
16. The petitioner is directed to appear before the Tribunal within 1 (one)
month from today and the learned tribunal will thereafter take charge of
the case and dispose of the matter as per Order 3(14) of the Foreigners
(Tribunals) Order, 1964.
17. Send back the original records of the Tribunal.
18. No order as to costs.
JUDGE JUDGE
Comparing Assistant
