GUWAHATI, Feb 24 - The State Government has started to review the �Not Foreigner� status awarded to nearly 40,000 people by the various Foreigner Tribunals (FTs) till date.
As part of its review initiative, already nine such cases of individuals who had earlier been declared as �Not Foreigner� by the respective FTs have now been referred for review in the Gauhati High Court and the process is expected to gain momentum in days to come.
The persons in question are the ones who had been declared as an Indian citizen by the FTs, contrary to the claims of Assam Police. The State Level Screening Committee, as a result of its maiden review meeting, has referred these nine cases � two each from Hojai and Darrang and five others from Lakhimpur district.
However, it is still not clear whether any specialised legal team will be engaged to examine the FT orders by the state level committee as the number of such cases is very high and experts believe that the process would need greater participation of law professionals.
As per government records, the number of pre- and post- 1971 stream declared foreigners stand at 21,733 and 26,696 respectively.
Sources informed that the decision to seek review of the decisions of the FTs was taken after examining the orders passed.
�We are in no way questioning the credibility of the FTs or their members. However, wherever there appears to be any doubt, we are referring it to the higher court for review. We will review only where we feel there is still a shadow of doubt,� sources privy to the development told this reporter.�
�The committee has therefore taken up the decision after duly consulting the matter with the district committee,� sources added.
The State Government, it needs mention, had recently issued a notification making the district and state level screening committees eligible to contest the decision of the FTs.
While the state level committee is headed by Additional Chief Secretary TY Das, the district committees comprise the respective deputy commissioners and superintendents of police.
