Azizul Hoque, a man from Assam has been declared a foreigner by a Tribunal in an ex parte proceeding as he was unable to appear as he has lower limb paralysis. He has been in detention centre since 24th March 2017 and has been facing deportation to Bangladesh.
The Foreigners Tribunal and the Gauhati High Court declared Hoque as a foreigner on the ground that neither he nor his representatives appeared before the Tribunal. The appellants have argued that the Tribunal and Gauhati High Court has erred by declaring Hoque a foreigner and the HC has wrongly dismissed the writ petition filed by the petitioner (Hoque) ,especially after accepting his medical certificate and certifying that he is suffering from lower limb paralysis. It was also argued that a man’s citizenship cannot be taken away merely on the ground that he failed to present him before a tribunal. Hoque’s and the name of his family members had appeared in the draft NRC.
The Tribunal declared Hoque a foreigner without even considering all the evidences diligently. Later, the tribunal dismissed the review petition and the High Court concurred with its judgment. Also, neither the tribunal nor the HC considered the jamabandi documents issued by the DC in his grandfather’s name in 1942-43, Nagaon. The voter’s list from 1965 consisting of the names of his grandfather, grandmother, father and mother were also not taken into account.
The Apex court on Wednesday has sought the Centre and the State Government to reply to the plea of the paralyzed man.
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