Assam: Woman Gets Back Citizenship 5 Years After Getting Declared 'Foreigner'

Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court intervened to grant Indian citizenship to a woman who was earlier declared as a foreigner by a tribunal court in 2017.

23 year old Shefali Rani Das got declared as a foreigner by the Foreigners Tribunal Court back in September 2017.

The girl, who hails from Cachar district in Assam, had failed to show up before the tribunal court on five occasions between February and September 2017, as a result of which the decision was made without her presence.

The incident unraveled when a case was filed against Shefali Rani Das back in 2015, raising questions about her citizenship. A notice was sent by the Foreigners Tribunal Court to Shefali asking her to appear with necessary documents in order to prove her Indian identity.

Obeying the orders, Shefali appeared before the court and subsequently appointed a lawyer to defend her.

Thereafter, the tribunal court allocated her dates to further appear in the court. However, her defense lawyer did not show up before the tribunal on several dates. In fact, the lawyer had completely disappeared so much so that he did not even bother to get in touch with her.

This resulted in Shefali getting declared as a foreigner on 19th September 2017.

Shefali did not give up her fight to prove her Indian identity and approached the Gauhati High Court to challenge the decision made by the Foreigners Tribunal Court.

To her relief, the HC provided her another opportunity to prove her Indian credentials before the Silchar Tribunal in July 2021.

Finally, she won her battle in 17th January 2022 after Dharmananda Deb, the judge of Silchar's Foreigner Tribunal, re-considered the case and declared her as an Indian Citizen.

The copy of the judgement states that it has been found that the documents of Shefali Rani Das are authentic and genuine. The judgement copy also added that the judge is of the opinion that she is an Indian citizen, after examining the case meticulously.

"She has clearly been able to establish the presence of her grandfather on Indian soil, relatable to the period prior to 25 March 1971 with valid linkage documents of a father as well as herself in accordance with law," the judgement said.

Shefali Rani Das is the daughter of Lakhi Das and is a resident of Mohankhal village under Sonai constituency of Cachar district.

It is to be noted that the cut-off date for residents to prove their citizenship in Assam is 25th March, 1971.

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