On July 11, a judgment was delivered by the Supreme Court that put an end to the 12-year legal battle that Rahim Ali fought against the state to establish his Indian nationality. However, justice came too late in his case, as Rahim Ali passed away two and a half years before with the tag of a “foreigner” against his name. Rahim Ali, who was facing the constant fear of being uprooted from his home in Kashimpur village, Nalbari district, Assam on December 28, 2021, while suffering from serious health ailments. Rahim Ali’s case and his family’s journey is a stark reminder of the emotional and financial toll of this ordeal that people of Assam are going through. In Rahim Ali’s case, even justice was too late to restore the harm done.
In the north-eastern state of Assam, India, the quest for citizenship has been a long-standing issue, entangling countless lives in a web of uncertainty. The gravity of the situation can be felt when stories of those being unjustly targeted and scrutinised by the state, based on their religious identity in most cases, comes forth. It takes the Tribunals and Courts many years to hear and decide the cases of those under the scanner, especially since the officer’s in-charge of the investigation do not discharge their duty fairly in verifying the documents presented by the accused to establish their citizenships. Meanwhile, those who have their nationality and identity hanging by a thread keep on suffering. Among those who had to suffer through a series of injustice and targeting was Rahim Ali, a man whose story is a poignant testament to the human cost of this citizenship struggle.
It was after the delivery of the Supreme Court judgement that the lawyer representing the accused, Advocate Kaushik Chaudhary, got to know about the demise of Rahim Ali. As per the report of The Indian Express, Chaudhary had stated that he was fighting Rahim Ali’s case pro bono and became aware of the death of Rahim Ali as the family was contacted in regards to the judgment.
The Assam team of Citizen’s for Justice and Peace met with the family of Rahim Ali in their village to talk to them about the judgment, the establishment of the Indian nationality of deceased Rahim Ali and to provide her with emotional support for the ordeal that the family had to go through. Dealing with families who remain fearful of having their loved ones snatched away due to indifference of the state is a situation that the CJP Assam team, who helps the residents of Assam put under the scrutiny of the state to fight the legal battle of proving their citizenship, has had to face often.
Team CJP with Rahim Ali’s family
Brief facts of the case:
The case against the present appellant, Md. Rahim Ali, had begun in the year 2004. The charges against Ali were regarding his alleged “illegal migration from Bangladesh post March 25, 1971.” The said date of March 25 of the year 1971 is significant as it is the cut-off date as per section 6A (Special provisions as to citizenship of persons covered by the Assam Accord) of the Citizenship Act.
The investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Bipin Dutta, sending the “notice” under the dreaded Foreigners Act, 1946, reported that the appellant failed to provide documentary evidence of entry into India before January 1, 1966. As a matter of course, as the experience of Citizens for Justice and Peace (www.cjp.org.in) in Assam reveals, the very basis of such notices are without basis or material facts.
In this case too, as provided by the order of the Supreme Court, the appellant stated that his parents’ names appeared in the voter lists of 1965 and 1970 for Village Dolur Pather, under Bhabanipur Legislative Assembly Constituency in Assam. Ali had also stated that he was born in the same village, and his name, along with his family members, appeared in the 1985 voter list. After marrying in 1997, he moved to Village Kashimpur, Nalbari district, where his name appeared in the 1997 voter list.
On the receipt of notice by the Tribunal, the appellant appeared on July 18, 2011, and has sought time to file the written statement as he was suffering some serious health ailments. It is to be noted that despite obtaining a medical certificate indicating his illness, the tribunal had passed an ex-parte order on March 19, 2012. Passing such ex-parte orders is also often routine in Assam. As per the order of the Tribunal, appellant Md. Rahim Ali had been declared a foreigner under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 by the Foreigners Tribunal, Nalbari on March 19, 2012. The said declaration had been made by the Tribunal on the ground that Ali had failed to prove his Indian nationality.
After the order of the Tribunal was delivered, Ali moved the High Court on May 30, 2012, to challenge the order of the High Court. On June 6, 2012, the High Court stayed the tribunal’s order by passing an interim order, directing the authority not to deport the appellant during the pendency of the proceedings before the High Court. However, on November 23, 2015, the High Court dismissed the writ petition moved by Ali, affirming the tribunal’s order declaring Ali a foreigner and clearing the path for his deportation. Challenging the said order of dismissal of the High Court, Ali moved the Supreme Court.
On July 11, 2024, in a significant judgment, the bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah observed that authorities cannot randomly accuse people of being foreigners and initiate investigation into a person’s nationality without there being some material basis or information to sustain the suspicion. Holding the same, the bench overturned the judgment of the Gauhati High Court, through which the present appellant had been declared foreigner on the grounds that he failed to discharge his burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 and failed to prove that he is not a foreigner.
The details of the case can be referred to here.
CJP’s team meeting family of Rahim Ali:
On behalf of CJP Assam team, State In-charge Nanda Ghosh and legal member Advocate Abhijeet Choudhury went to meet with Rahim Ali’s family in Kashempur village of Nalbari. The team experienced a range of emotions when they first met Rahim Ali’s wife, Hajera Bibi. Hajera was relieved that her husband had at last been recognized as an Indian, but her happiness was overshadowed by the realisation that Rahim Ali was not around to see this day. She described how Rahim Ali’s health had suffered greatly as a result of the strain of the citizenship dispute, which ultimately resulted in his premature death.
Hajera described how Rahim Ali had grown more and more withdrawn, spending months at a time hiding from the authorities, and how his diabetes had gotten worse due to his fear of being arrested. The family sold everything they owned, including goats, cows, and even property, but they were unable to pay for Rahim Ali’s necessary medical care.
Hajera holds up the judgement declaring Rahim Ali an Indian
Hajera is now left to look after their son, who is 14 years old. Hajera took comfort in the knowledge that her husband’s suffering might not have been in vain, though, after learning that the Supreme Court’s decision had given hope to many others going through comparable difficulties. With a satisfied sigh, she said, “this judgment is crucial so that the injustice that happened to me does not happen to anyone else.”
As Team CJP consoled Hajera, they promised to support her and their villages going forward with any citizenship-related concerns. It is essential to note that through the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court in the Rahim Ali case, the bench had held that even for initiating an inquiry, there has to be some material basis or information to suspect that the person is a foreigner and not an Indian. Secondly, a mere allegation that someone is an illegal migrant is not enough to impose the burden of proving the citizenship on the accused under Section 9 of The Foreigners Act, 1946. As per the judgment, the fact that Section 9 burden only kicks in after the foundational facts have been established by the referring authority before the tribunal was once more established.
It further recognised the diversity in language which often renders the spelling of names in documents inconsistent. In Rahim Ali’s case, the court held that the State miserably failed to provide the material basis for initiating the case against him, rendering the inception of the case itself a nullity, void and without merits.
Thirdly, the bench had held that not giving a copy of the main grounds based on which the case has been referred or it is alleged that the person is a foreigner by the authority to the person proceeded against is violative of principles of natural justice.
Related:
SC directs Centre to deport 17 foreigners detained in Assam Detention Centre