Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Amends Foreigners Tribunals Order, 1964

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: As a measure to deal with the people excluded from the final NRC (National Register of Citizens), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has brought in three significant clauses by amending ‘The Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964’. The Gazette Notification published on September 2 (Monday) further said that the new order has been renamed as the ‘Foreigners (Tribunals) (Second Amendment) Order, 2019’.

Two of the provisions that have been brought in are that the Foreigners Tribunals (FT) order must specifically state as to whether the appellant (applicant) is Indian or not and also whether the appellant is eligible for NRC or not.

The order said, “After hearing the Appellant, the pleader appearing for the Government and the authorised representative of the District Magistrate, if any, the Tribunal shall dispose of the appeal: Provided that the Tribunal shall also, if the Appeal is rejected, give a clear finding as to whether the Appellant is a foreigner or not within the meaning of the Foreigners Act, 1946.”

The order also states, “The final order of the Tribunal shall contain its opinion on the matter whether the Appellant is eligible for inclusion in the NRC or not and it shall also contain the opinion of the Tribunal as to whether the Appellant, if his Appeal is rejected, is a foreigner or not within the meaning of the Foreigners Act, 1946”, the amended order said.

The third provision added in the amended order is that if any of the ineligible persons (from the final NRC) does not make any appeal to the FTs, then the District Magistrate may refer such cases to the FTs for their opinions regarding such cases. The FT will have to deliver “its opinion on the question as to whether the person is a foreigner or not within the meaning of The Foreigners Act, 1946”.

The “final order of the Tribunal shall be a concise statement of facts and conclusion based on which the Tribunal has arrived at its decision”, the amended order added.

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