In his letter Sarma also urged the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to inquire into the financial irregularities of NRC updating process and probable money laundering. Sarma has requested, “The National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe if any foreign money was involved in the process to pave the way for inclusion of foreign nationals’ name in the NRC Assam.”

Sarma has also stated that an affidavit has been filed with the Supreme Court for the reverification process. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has meanwhile stated that the final phase of the NRC is the task of the central government as of now, as the state government has completed its work in this phase.

On August 31, 2019 the final NRC was published with a total of 19,06,657 applicants left out from the NRC, with 3,11,21,004 inclusions.

Sarma, an officer in the Assam civil services, was appointed as the state coordinator of the NRC in 2019 after the previous coordinator, Prateek Hajela got a transfer to his home state, Madhya Pradesh. Sarma details that in 2013 he was debarred from the NRC office due to internal reasons. But on November 11, 2019 he was appointed as NRC state Coordinator after the deputation of Prateek Hajela. The current NRC coordinator is IAS officer, Partha Pratim Mazumdar.

Internal bureaucratic conflicts

The ruling central government led by BJP has notably been at loggerheads with Prateek Hajela after the publication of the final NRC. In the months running up to August 31 2019, Prateek Hajela had been rendered virtually dysfunctional in his post as NRC State Coordinator with the Government of Assam adopting a policy of non-cooperation with him. After the transfer of Prateek Hajela by the Supreme Court, the Government of Assam took a prompt decision to reinstate Hitesh Dev Sharma in a more senior position than before. Hitesh Dev Sharma is also known to be very close to the ruling party, BJP.

May 19, 2022 in a shocking turn of events in the already complicated journey of the NRC, Hitesh Deb Sarma had filed an FIR against Former NRC Coordinator Pratik Hajela. He alleged that the process of Family Tree Verification was conducted in a flawed manner under Hajela, with several “imposters” allegedly using “fraudulent” documents to establish linkage to genuine citizens. He also accused Hajela of deliberately using a software that prevented proper quality checks and permitted names of “foreigners” to be included in the NRC. In his letter to the PM, he has also stated that he discovered during sample checks that over 50,000 names of Indian citizens were missing.

Sarma and Hajela have not seen eye to eye. As per The Print, in a Facebook post in 2023, Sarma had alleged the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) leader Samujjal Bhattacharya would take 16 lakh rupees per month from Hajela. Both Hajela and the AASU had decried these statements. As late as February 2024, the AASU’s Samujjal Bhattacharya has filed a defamation case against Sarma.

In 2022, four Left parties in Assam had demanded the removal of Hitesh Dev Sarma as the National register of Citizens (NRC) coordinator, as they relayed shock and anger over his First Information Report (FIR) against his predecessor Prateek Hajela. They further blamed him for stalling the NRC process. The parties who stated this were the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPIM), Communist Party of India – Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML) and the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI).

NRC process continues at snail’s pace 

Meanwhile, data shows that a number of cases remain pending. As per an affidavit submitted by the Union Government to the Supreme Court on December 11, 2023, it has been stated that till October 31, 2023, a total of 3,34,966 cases had been disposed of by the 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals operational in Assam. In addition to this, the affidavit stated that a total of 97,714 cases remained pending in the FTs. Furthermore, it was also stated that till December 2023, 1,8,461 cases arising out of FTs had been pending before the Gauhati High Court.

The Foreigners’ Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies in Assam to decide the status of an individual as Indian or foreigner. Its members can be a retired judicial officer of the Assam Judicial Service, a retired civil servant or an advocate with a minimum of seven years of experience.

The NRC has been done under the supervision of the Supreme Court by employing more than 55,000 government employees after multiple hearings, re-verification and examination.

What of the people of Assam?

An important point above all is that while NRC was published at the expense of public funds from taxpayers, the people of Assam have been stuck in the citizenship crisis. Despite doing all the required procedures, the names of about 42 lakhs people were excluded from the first draft list. Ever after that the people of Assam have given their complete cooperation without any agitation or expression of frustration demanding for a permanent solution.

In the name of claim and objection, religious minorities and linguistic minorities, especially Bengali-speaking Muslims and Bengali speaking Hindus have been continuously harassed, facing severe socio-economic hurdles and psychological despair.

A number of people have even been driver to suicide, thinking that their name off the NRC means that their life is finished. Citizens for Justice and Peace has observed that over 29 people have died in detention camps in the state. Meanwhile, more than a hundred people have lost their lives while struggling to prove their citizenship, as they hang between the label of de-voters, FT cases, detention camps, NRC etc.

However, the names of more than 19 lakhs people have been excluded from the final NRC. Many have pointed out loopholes in the list. Shockingly, in several cases the names of the parents are included though children were excluded. Similarly some members of the family were included, while other members of the same family were excluded for no known reason.

Furthermore, observers point out that the rejection slip to the 3 crores left out of the NRC is supposed to be given within 120 days. Yet it has now been almost 5 years, and no rejection slip is given nor is the reason for the exclusion of these individuals given.

Over 27 lakhs people in Assam have been deprived of their Aadhaar card due to the NRC process, where they provided their biometric details during the re-verification process. The issue is another one that the people of the state have been grappling with and is a huge issue for the marginalised, who face the brunt of the NRC process. In the run up to the general assembly elections of 2024, civil society groups of Assam demanded for the Aadhaar card of these 27 lakhs to be issued at the earliest.

Therefore, as the people of Assam grapple with these issues, it is yet to be seen whether the plea by Hitesh Dev Sarma, who is said to be close to the BJP, will be heard.

Related:

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Yet another NRC reverification plea moved before SC

The post Former NRC State Coordinator of Assam urges PM Modi for re-verification of NRC appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Brief Background of the Case:

On November 22, 2019, Maya Rani Barman “the petitioner” was declared a foreigner under the Foreigner Act, 1946 by the Foreigners Tribunal, Lakhimpur (Assam).

The petitioner claimed that she is an Indian citizen by birth and born and brought up in the of village Gopalpur, District-Cooch Behar, West Bengal and studied up to Class-V at Gopalpur High School and as per her School Certificate, her date of birth is 15th of April 1961. She got married to one Bishnu Barman, son of late Shiben Chandra Barman of Harmoti Gaon, District-Lakhimpur.

However, a case was registered against the petitioner bearing Case No. 4057/2011 (District No. 23/1997) by the Foreigners Tribunal No. 1st, Lakhimpur, North Lakhimpur upon a reference was made by the Superintendent of Police (Border), Lakhimpur (Assam).

The Petitioner appeared before the Tribunal and contested the case by filling her written Statement, adduced her evidence in chief along with relevant and supported documents to prove her nationality. But, the Tribunal did not consider the documents that she relied on.

On November 22, 2019, the Foreigners Tribunal at Lakhimpur passed the impugned final order/opinion order. The petitioner claimed that the tribunal passed the impugned order arbitrarily without appreciating the evidence, declared her to be a foreigner who had illegally entered into the territory of India (Assam) from the specified territory of Bangladesh after 25.03.1971.

Petitioner moved the High Court for relief:

On January 1, 2023, Maya Rani (the petitioner) aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned decision of the Foreigners Tribunal dated 22.11.2019 passed by the Member, Foreigners Tribunal No. 1^st, Lakhimpur (Assam) filed a petition bearing Writ Petition  (Civil) No. 154/2023 before the Gauhati High Court under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the petitioner has exhibited the Voter Identity Card issued in her name along with the School Transfer to prove her linkage with her father. Further added that, though the petitioner annexed a photo copy of a Ration Card and an affidavit sworn by her mother etc. but inadvertently those certificates were not exhibited by her. It is submitted by Mr. Biswas that the petitioner produced the School Transfer Certificate to prove her linkage with her father Lt. Monteswar Ray, stating further that father of the proceedee had purchased a parcel of land in the year 1960, but, due to flood the Sale Deed of the said land got damaged and therefore, the petitioner could not produce the original copy of said Sale Deed before the Tribunal.

The counsel for petitioner further submits that the documents so provided by the petitioner was sufficient to prove herself to be the Citizen of India. however, the Tribunal without considering the documents which were relied by the petitioner/proceedee, passed the impugned Final Order dated 22.11.2019 arbitrarily and declared her as a foreigner of post 1971 stream, which is liable to be set aside and quashed.

On the other side, Standing Counsel for Home department Assam was submitted that the petitioner could not produce any document to establish herself to be the daughter of her projected father, one Lt. Monteswar Ray who is claimed to be the Citizen of India by the petitioner. The counsel added that o submitted that though the petitioner has submitted one School Transfer Certificate but she failed to prove the said certificate as well as its contents by producing any reliable evidence of the issuing authority. In that context, counsel relied on a decision of the Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of Life Insurance Corporation of India and Another Vs. Ram Pal Singh Bisen, reported in (2010) 4 SCC 491, wherein the Hon’ble Supreme Court laid down that “admission of a document in a Court may amount to admission of its contents but not its truth”.

Added that, Voter Identity Card along with other documents as produced by the petitioner in her Written Statement are not at all sufficient to prove herself to be the Citizen of India as claimed by her as she completely failed to prove any link with her projected father whom stated to be an Indian Citizen.

The Home Department, Assam submitted that the petitioner/proceedee failed to adduce reliable evidence exhibit requisite documents so as to prove her linkage with her projected father and grandparents and thereby the petitioner failed to discharge her burden under Section 9 of the Foreigners’ Act, 1946.

No relief granted to the Petitioner, High Court affirmed the decision of Tribunal:

On January 1, 2024, the division bench of Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak and Justice Mitali Thakuria observed that the petitioner claimed that her father Lt. Monteswar Ray was also an Indian Citizen, who purchased a land in India in the year 1960, but she could not produce the Sale Deed before the Tribunal as it was destroyed due to burning of the Record Room in the year 1974 and also failed to produce any documents like continuous/regular payment of land revenue for the said land before the Tribunal by exhibiting Land Revenue Paying Receipt on behalf of her projected father.

The bench further observed that before Tribunal the petitioner exhibited a Transfer Certificate issued in her name by Gopalpur High School, Gopalpur, Cooch Behar, West Bengal issued on 08.08.2015, but she could not adduce any evidence of the Headmaster of the said High School, i.e., its issuing authority or any authorised teacher and/or employee of the said High School to prove the contents of the said certificate exhibited by the petitioner, so as to prove herself to be the daughter of her projected father Lt. Monteswar Ray.

The Court added further that the petitioner did not produce any voter lists of the years 1965 or 1966 and 1971 to prove that her parents had cast vote in the years 1966 and/or 1971. We found that the petitioner not only failed to prove her linkage with her projected father Lt. Monteswar Ray but also failed to produce any documents to prove that her projected father was an Indian Citizen.

On the forgoing findings the division bench held that the Tribunal after due appreciation of the entire facts of the case and evidence adduced on behalf of the petitioner arrived at the impugned opinion/judgment dated 22.11.2019 which is without any illegality and perversity. We, therefore, are of the view that the impugned final order passed by the Foreigners’ Tribunal North Lakhimpur, Assam in Lakhimpur, holding the petitioner to be a foreigner under the Foreigners’ Act, 1946 who had illegally entered into the territory of India (Assam) from the specified territory of Bangladesh on or after 25.03.1971 does not call for any interference.

The judgement of High Court dated 11.01.2024 can be read here:

Petitioner moved Supreme Court against the impugned order of HC:

On April 19, 2024, aggrieved by the decision of the Gauhati High Court declaring the petitioner to be a foreigner, the petitioner filed an appeal before the Supreme Court.

The appeal said that it was ‘practically impossible’ for the woman to get the documents as she had shifted to Assam on account of her marriage, while originally belonging to Cooch Behar in West Bengal. “In course of her migration, it was not possible to keep track of those documents since her parents have already died,” the plea said.

Petitioner said that the documents establishing her link to her parents, both Indian citizens, have been destroyed in floods. Further, the High Court wrongly discarded her school-leaving certificate as proof of Indian residency and citizenship on grounds of the headmaster not having been cross-examined. 

“It is not possible for her to bring the Headmaster from West Bengal to Lakhimpur, Assam,” she said.

On May 17, 2024, the three judges’ bench of SC consisting Chief Justice of India, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra have issued notice and sought response from the Union of India, Assam Government, Election Commission of India and NRC Coordinator Assam over the matter within three months.

”In the meantime, no coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioner on the basis of the impugned judgement and order dated 11 January 2024 of the Gauhati High Court in WP(C) No. 154 of 2023” the bench directed to the respondents.

The order of the Supreme Court dated 17.05.2024 can be read here:

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