Foreigner’s Tribunals

Foreigner’s Tribunals

Subject – Polity

Context – The Gauhati High Court has, in less than a month, picked holes in the orders of three Foreigners’ Tribunals (FTs) declaring as many people foreigners

Concept –

• 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.