Supreme Court Halts Deportation of Four Assam Women, Seeks Responses from Centre and Election Commission
The court has stayed the deportation of four women declared foreigners in Assam and raised concerns over the handling of their citizenship cases.
New Delhi: In a significant interim relief, the Supreme Court of India has stopped the deportation of four women from Assam who had been declared foreigners by local Foreigners Tribunals. The ruling offers temporary protection to the women, who were facing the possibility of being removed from the country after being classified as illegal migrants.
A vacation bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice V. Mahadevan took note of the matter and issued notices to the Central Government, the Assam Government, and the Election Commission of India. The court has directed the authorities to submit detailed responses within four weeks.
The petitioners, Basiram Nessa, Most Noriza Begum, Saleha Khatun, and Sarbanu Begum, have been involved in a lengthy legal battle to establish their Indian citizenship. They argued before the Supreme Court that their families have lived in Assam for generations and that they had submitted documents, electoral records, and legacy data showing their presence in India before 1971.
According to the petitions, their citizenship claims were rejected despite the submission of supporting records. The women contended that minor technical discrepancies in documents were used to dismiss their cases.
Two of the petitioners, Saleha Khatun and Sarbanu Begum, have reportedly been held in a detention centre in Assam’s Goalpara district since March. Their lawyers told the court that the women come from economically weak backgrounds and have been separated from their families while challenging the tribunal decisions.
The case has once again drawn attention to the functioning of Assam’s Foreigners Tribunals. Critics have often argued that applicants face difficulties due to spelling variations in names, inconsistencies in old records, and procedural issues that can arise over decades of documentation.
Court records cited in the petitions indicate that Sarbanu Begum’s citizenship claim was questioned because of differences in the spelling of names across various voter lists and documents. In another case, Saleha Khatun submitted pre 1971 electoral and family records, but her claim was reportedly rejected on grounds related to document verification procedures.
The petition also highlighted the case of Most Noriza Begum, who was allegedly declared a foreigner through an ex parte order after she failed to properly participate in tribunal proceedings. Her lawyers argued that her lack of legal knowledge and limited understanding of the process contributed to the outcome.
Counsel for the petitioners maintained that poor and uneducated women are particularly vulnerable to documentation errors and administrative inconsistencies. They argued that such issues should not result in the loss of citizenship rights or personal liberty.
After considering the submissions, the Supreme Court directed that the current status of the four women be maintained until the next hearing scheduled for July 16. The court also made it clear that no deportation action should be taken against them during this period.
The case is being closely watched as it could have broader implications for citizenship related proceedings in Assam, where questions surrounding documentation and citizenship verification have affected a large number of residents over the years.