AYATAN NESSA @ AITON NESSA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. A.S. Choudhury, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. P.S. Lahkar, learned CGC for respondent no.1; Ms. S. Katakey, learned standing counsel for respondent no.3; Mr. G. Sarma, learned standing counsel for respondent nos. 2, 4 and 6; and Mr. H.K. Hazarika, learned Govt. Advocate for respondent no.5.

(2.) By filing this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner, namely, Ayatan Nessa @ Aiton Nessa, has assailed the opinion dtd. 5/11/2019, passed by the learned Member, Foreigners Tribunal (4th), Nagaon, at Juria (Assam), in F.T. Case No. 70/2017 (arising out of Police Ref. 'D' Case No. 2946/98), by which the reference was answered in favour of the State and against the petitioner by holding that the petitioner had failed to discharge her burden of proof under Sec. 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 that she is not a foreigner but a citizen of India.

(3.) On service of notice, the petitioner had appeared and filed her written statement of defence, inter alia, stating that her grandfather is Late Kemat Ali; her parents are Late Abdul Karim and Late Umme Kulsum; she was born and brought up in village- Mahguri, P.S. Juria, Dist. Nagaon; her father has six brothers, namely, Abdur Rouf, Late Abdul Karim, Abdur Rahim, Abdus Salam, Abul Kalam, Abdus Sobahan, and four sisters, namely, Khudeja Khatun, Rumeja Khatun, Hafija Khatun and Asmina Khatun. She had stated that including herself, she has three sisters, namely, Ayatan Nessa, Asiya Begum and Sufia Begum; she is married to Abdul Majid, son of Hasan Ali of village- Jamuguri, P.S. Juria, Dist. Nagaon and has one daughter, namely, Majida Khatun and two sons, namely, Mujammul Hoque, and Atabur Rahman. To show her link with her parents, the petitioner had stated that she has a certificate each from the Gaon Burah of Mahguri Village, Maguri Gaon Panchayat and Alitangani Osmania Higher Secondary School, where she had read upto Class-VI. To show that her father was a voter, the petitioner had referred to the voters list of 1965, 1970, 1975 and 1997 and to show that she had casted her vote in the year 1989, she had referred to the voters list of 1989. She had stated that her grand-father had sold a plot of land on 4/2/1931. The petitioner had stated that there were discrepancies in the names of her grandfather, parents and in her own name. She had stated that in the voters list of 1965, 1970 and 1997, against her father's name, her grandfather's name was wrongly shown as "Malimuddin" instead of "Kemat Ali" and in the voters list of 1989, her name has been wrongly enlisted as "Abtan Nessa" instead of "Ayatan Nessa". Accordingly, the petitioner had prayed to declare her as an Indian citizen.