Citizenship requires establishing a direct, consistent bloodline linkage to an ancestor present before the specified cut-off date. Documentary evidence, such as voters' lists and residential certificates, must be corroborated and properly proved; mere production is insufficient to discharge the burden of proof.

JUDGMENT :

Shamima Jahan, J.

Heard Mr. A.W. Aman, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. G. Sarma, learned Standing Counsel, Home Department and NRC, Ms. R. B. Bora, learned Government Advocate, Assam, Mr. N. Kalita, learned counsel representing Mr. A. I. Ali, learned Standing Counsel for the ECI; and Ms. S. Baruah, learned CGC appearing for the Union of India.

2. By this application filed under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has challenged the legality and validity of the opinion dated 04.04.2019, passed by the learned Member, Foreigners’ Tribunal, Kamrup (M) 2nd, Guwahati, in FT Case No. 87 of 2018, whereby the petitioner was declared a foreigner of post-25.03.1971 stream.

FACTS

3. The petitioner stated that a reference case was made against him by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Border) Guwahati, suspecting the petitioner to be a foreigner from the specified territory, who entered Assam, India, illegally th without valid travel document after 24 of March, 1971, and the same was referred to the Foreigners’ Tribunal and a case has been registered as FT Case No. 87 of 2018. The learned Tribunal issued notice to the petitioner and on receipt of the same, the petitioner filed his written statement, placed documents and examined 3 (three) witnesses.

4. In the said written statement, the petitioner stated that his grandfather, namely, Dil Mohammad @ Dilo Miya @ Dilo, lived at Village-Balikuri Nonke in the sub-division of Barpeta, in the then district of Kamrup and that the father of the petitioner, namely, Abdul Rezzak @ Rezak @ Rezzak, also lived in the same village. He further stated that he was born on 01.10.1978 and was brought up in the said village. However, he stated that his family shifted from the said place to Village-Bhograndha in the district of Barpeta, Assam, in the year 1992, due to river erosion and that since then, the petitioner has been living in the said village.

5. He stated that his grandfather appeared in the NRC of 1951 from House No. 138 of Village-Balikuri Nonke as stated above, and that in voters’ list of 1966, his grandfather as well as his grandmother’s names appeared in the said list from the said place, i.e., Balikuri Nonke under No. 51, Jania LAC. Similarly, in the voters’ list of 1970, the names of the petitioner’s grandfather and grandmother appeared from the same place under the same constituency.

6. Thereafter, in the voters’ list of 1985, the petitioner stated that the names of his grandparents as well as his uncle, namely, Atowar Rahman and the name of his aunt, appeared in the said voters’ list from the same place, as stated above, under No. 44, Jania LAC. The petitioner stated that the name of his grandfather was wrongly written as Dilo Miah, due to the fault of the enumerators. He, however, stated that the father of his grandfather’s name was the same as in earlier voters’ list, which shows that Dilo Miah and Dil Mohammad is one and the same person.

7. The petitioner subsequently stated that the name of his father first appeared in the voters’ list of 1989 from House No. 791, Part-82 of Village- Balikuri Nonke, and that his mother’s name, Nabiran Nessa, was also included in the said voters’ list. He further stated that his father was shown to be the son of Dilo in the said voters’ list and that the said mistake was committed by the enumerators.

8. The petitioner then stated that there was ri