JUDGMENT :

R.F. NARIMAN, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The present appeal raises an issue as to whether the appellant herein has been declared to be a foreigner incorrectly. By the Foreigner’s Tribunal judgment dated 19.01.2017, after referring to some of the documents produced by the appellant, and after finding that there was a discrepancy in the name of the grandfather and the fact that the grandfather and the father later lived in different villages, the Tribunal declared the appellant to be a foreigner. The High Court dismissed the writ petition filed against the same judgment stating:

“Having said that we may look into the written statement filed by the petitioner before the Tribunal. In a proceeding before the Foreigners’ Tribunal where the citizenship status of the proceedee is being questioned, that too, by the State, the proceedee must disclose all material facts within his special knowledge relevant for establishing his citizenship at the first instance itself i.e., in the written statement. In other words, he must be able to plead about his identity as a citizen of India. This would be as per the requirement of Section 9 of the Foreigners’ Act, 1946, which is in pari materia to t