SC: Foreigners Tribunal Can't Review Own Orders

The Supreme Court has ruled that a foreigners tribunal, established for determining illegal immigrants, is "powerless" to review its own orders since the law does not permit it to act as an appellate authority over its own judgments.

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI:

The decision, delivered by a bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, came while setting aside an Assam foreigners tribunal order that reversed its own finding in a case concerning a woman declared to be an Indian citizen. The ruling holds broader implications for cases adjudicated by foreigners tribunals, ensuring that once an individual has been declared an Indian citizen, the state or the Centre cannot pursue repetitive litigation against them in the absence of fresh and valid grounds for review.

The court's ruling stemmed from the case of Rejia Khatun, a resident of Tezpur, who faced two proceedings before different benches of the foreigners tribunal at the behest of the state. The first was initiated in 2012, and the second in 2016. One of these proceedings concluded in February 2018, when the tribunal declared Khatun an Indian citizen after evaluating both oral and documentary evidence. However, the tribunal in December 2019 entertained the state's second reference and decided to continue proceedings against her.