GUWAHATI, June 24: The Gauhati High Court has observed that records related to a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) case were placed in a “haphazard manner” and asked the Assam government to consider training of members and superintendents of these quasi-judicial bodies to maintain such documents properly.
The FTs, exclusive to Assam, are tasked with determining whether individuals suspected of being foreigners are Indian citizens or not.
A bench of justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Malsri Nandi made the observation while hearing a writ petition filed by one Gobinda Saha, who was declared an “illegal foreigner” by a tribunal in Nagaon, but the high court later set it aside.
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The division bench, while examining the documents and records of the FT in the case, found multiple instances of mislabeling or overlapping of the exhibits.
“…all the exhibited documents, with overlapping as indicated hereinbefore, are not found to have been referred and discussed by the learned Tribunal. Thus, it appears that the petitioner has not received the desired assistance of his learned counsel, who has failed to mark exhibits appropriately,” said the order passed on Thursday.
The bench also observed that the records are “so haphazardly” maintained by the tribunal that it took more than two hours for the court, assisted by the private secretaries, to trace out the exhibited documents.
It has compelled the court to leave it to the authorities in the Home and Political Department as to whether the state would consider formal training to the members and superintendents of Foreigners Tribunals on how to maintain case records.
“Having seen the haphazard manner in which the records of Case No. FT 2451/2011 has been maintained, the court is inclined to direct the Registry to transmit a copy of this order to the Commissioner and Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Home and Political (B) Department to consider training programme for the learned members and superintendents of the Foreigners Tribunals in the state on maintaining records,” the order said.
It also asked the authority to circulate a copy of this order to all the foreigners tribunals in the state. (PTI)
