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On Monday, the Supreme Court permitted a woman to file a review petition before the Gauhati High Court. The Foreigners Tribunal in Assam declared the woman as a foreigner, a decision upheld by the High Court which she wished to be reviewed. The woman was allowed to approach the apex court by the Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde if the review petition fails.
The woman, Jasminara Begum, was declared to be a foreigner in 2019. The decision of the Tribunal was based on the point that her ancestry could not be traced back to be before 25 March 1971, which is the date of cut-off for inclusion in the National Register of Citizens. The woman told the tribunal that the names of her parents were entered in the 1965 Voters list, with her mother’s name being “Mazeda Begum” in the list. Stating that she cited her mother’s name as “Mazeda Sultana Begum” in her oral evidence, the Tribunal refused to act on the evidence as the two names are not the same.
It held that the woman “miserably failed to establish her link with her father and mother” and declared her as a foreigner. The decision was challenged in the Gauhati High Court by a writ petition, which was dismissed by a division bench of the Court on 25 September 2019.
An SLP was filed in the Supreme Court against the High Court’s judgment and it was contended on behalf of the petitioner that the decision of the Tribunal had apparent errors. It was stated that the Tribunal did not look at the evidence that showed that the father’s name was also included in the voter’s list. The Tribunal said that the link of the woman with her mother could not be established.
The Supreme Court bench granted liberty to the woman to file a review petition. The petition was thus withdrawn.
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