Foreigner’s Tribunals
- December 11, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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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.