The Assam government has directed the Foreigners’ Tribunals (FTs) — which adjudicate citizenship in the state — to stick to giving “opinion” on a person’s nationality, and refrain from passing any “consequential orders.”
Details of the Order:
In ‘consequential orders’, the courts can direct government departments to take action, while in an ‘opinion, the government decides what action needs to be taken.
The sole purpose of the FTs — which are quasi-judicial forums — is to give an opinion whether someone is a foreigner or an Indian. After that the state’s executive agencies take consequential action accordingly.
The Judicial Department has noted that consequential orders for “deletion of names from voter list, arrest, detention and deportation of the declared foreigners” had been passed.
About Foreigner’s Tribunal (FT):
They are quasi-judicial bodies meant to “furnish opinion on the question as to whether a person is or is not a foreigner within the meaning of Foreigners Act, 1946”.
In 1964, the Centre passed the Foreigners’ (Tribunals) Order under provisions of Section 3 of the Act.
The FTs get two kinds of cases: those against whom a “reference” has been made by border police, and those whose names in the electoral rolls have a D (Doubtful) against them.
Section 9 of the Foreigners Act says that “the onus of proving that such person is not a foreigner or is not a foreigner lies on the person.
Foreigners Tribunal Member
Each FT member is appointed under the Foreigners Tribunal Act, 1941, and Foreigners Tribunal Order, 1984, as per the guidelines issued by the government from time to time.
A member can be a retired judicial officer of the Assam Judicial Service, a retired civil servant not below the rank of secretary and additional secretary with judicial experience, or a practising advocate not below the age of 35 years and with at least seven years of practice.
A member is also required to have a fair knowledge of the official languages of Assam (Assamese, Bengali, Bodo and English) as well as be conversant with the historical background to the foreigners’ issue.