FOREIGNER’S TRIBUNAL

FOREIGNER’S TRIBUNAL

Subject : Governance

Context : After a year-and-a-half in a detention centre as ‘illegal foreigners’, the New Year has brought freedom and citizenship to Mohammad Nur Hussain, 34, his wife Sahera Begum, 26, and their two minor children, who have been declared Indians in a re-trial by a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT).

Concept :

Foreigners Tribunal

• In 1964, the govt brought in the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order.
• Composition: Advocates not below the age of 35 years of age with at least 7 years of practice (or) Retired Judicial Officers from the Assam Judicial Service(for assam) (or) Retired IAS Officers (not below the rank of Secretary/Addl. Secretary) having experience in quasi-judicial works.

Who can setup these tribunals?

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has amended the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, and has empowered district magistrates in all States and Union Territories to set up tribunals (quasi-judicial bodies) to decide whether a person staying illegally in India is a foreigner or not.
• Earlier, the powers to constitute tribunals were vested only with the Centre.
• Typically, the tribunals there have seen two kinds of cases: those concerning persons against whom a reference has been made by the border police and those whose names in the electoral roll has a “D”, or “doubtful”, marked against them.

Who can approach?

• The amended order (Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 2019) also empowers individuals to approach the Tribunals. Earlier, only the State administration could move the Tribunal against a suspect.

Process

• Foreigners Tribunals, quasi-judicial authorities , have been deciding on matters pertaining to citizenship in order to identify foreigners.
• The process begins by the border police or the Election Commission referring the case of a suspected foreigner to the Foreigners Tribunal.
• The tribunal calls on the person to appear before it and prove that they are not a foreigner, and then passes an order in favour or against them.