The Gauhati High Court recently granted the appeal of a declared “foreigner” who entered Assam between 1966 and 1971 to extend the time limit for registering with the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office (FRRO).
A division bench comprising of Justice Achintya Malla Bujor Barua and Justice Robin Phukan granted one month’s time to the petitioner, Sakat Ali, stating,
“In the event, the petitioner does not get himself registered within the aforesaid period, the implication of law that he is not a citizen of India would be made applicable in respect of the petitioner.”
The Foreigners’ Tribunal declared the petitioner a foreigner in an opinion dated September 20, 2022. He was dissatisfied because the time limit for registering with the FRRO had passed.
Section 6A(3) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, read with Section 6A(6) (b), provides that a person who has been detected as a ‘foreigner’ on the grounds that he entered the State of Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971, shall register himself before the concerned authority (herein FRRO) within 60 days of such detection, and if his name is included in any electoral roll for any Assembly or Parliamentary constituency shall be deleted therefrom.
Furthermore, Section 6A(4) of the Act of 1955 states that a person declared to be a foreigner and registered himself under Section 6A(3) of the Act of 1955 shall have the same rights and obligations as an Indian citizen from the date of his detection as a foreigner until the expiry of ten years, except that he shall not be entitled to have his name included in any electoral roll for any Assembly or Parliamentary constituency at any time before the expiry of the said period of ten years.
However, Section 6A(5) of the Act of 1955 states that a person registered under Section 6A(3) is assumed to be a citizen of India for all purposes as of the expiration of a ten-year term from the date he was identified to be a foreigner.
The petition was filed against this backdrop.
The division bench stated that if the petitioner is registered as a person who entered the state of Assam between 1966 and 1971, the inference that he will not be able to vote for the next 10 years from the date of registration will be made relevant to him.
The division bench further asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to remove the petitioner’s name from any voter list where his name appears, in accordance with Section 6A(3) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
It further ordered the ECI and FRRO to follow the court’s order even if the petitioner did not register with the FRRO within one month.
