Assam’s dreaded Foreigners Tribunals have achieved yet another impossible feat – they have declared a serving BSF officer a foreigner!
Image Courtesy: latestlaws.com
Muzibur Rahman, the BSF officer, posted in Punjab, and his wife were declared foreigners by the Jorhat Foreigners’ Tribunal in December last year but the family was informed about this only last month, they claimed. The decision was allegedly taken ex-parte, which means that neither the officer nor his lawyer were heard by the tribunal before the decision was taken. The couple now faces arrest and possible incarceration in a detention camp.
Previously in Assam, Foreigners Tribunals have declared a decorated war hero and family members of the first deputy speaker of the Assam assembly foreigners! These are among 117164 others who have been declared foreigners. Of these, over 60000 people have been declared foreigners ex-parte by the government’s own submission before the parliament.
Foreigner Tribunals are quasi judicial bodies that decide cases related to D Voters and Suspected Foreigners. It is alleged that FTs are often manned by senior lawyers who receive scant training before they begin. There are also allegations of such Tribunals competing with each other to come up with the most number of people declared foreigners.