SC asks Centre, Assam govt to reply to plea by man battling paralysis in detention camp

The Supreme Court has pulled up the Centre and the Assam government for not responding to a petition filed by a paralysed man languishing in one of the NRC detention

The Supreme Court has pulled up the Centre and the Assam government for not responding to a petition filed by a paralysed man languishing in one of the NRC detention camps for over two years now.

The Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi ordered the Centre and the Assam government to respond within two weeks.

Azizul Hoque was declared foreigner by the Foreigners Tribunal in Assam and he had been in detention since March 24, 2017.

It may be mentioned that Hoque had failed to appear before the tribunal for his defence due to lower limb paralysis. He approached the apex court after the Gauhati High Court denied him relief despite accepting his medical certificate.

The petitioner also submitted that neither the tribunal nor the High Court had appreciated the fact that he had produced relevant documents in the name of his grandfather issued by the Nagaon Deputy Commissioner in 1941-42.

Hoque had also submitted the voter list excerpts of 1965 showing the names of his grandfather, grandmother, father and mother.

He had produced his school certificate, certifying his date of birth to be March 5, 1978 and, therefore, he was an Indian citizen by birth as per Section 3 of the Citizenship Act.

It is not the first case that an individual having substantial evidence to prove his or her Indian citizenship has been labeled as a foreigner leading to their subsequent detention.

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