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Foreigners Order: verdict reserved

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday reserved its verdict on the constitutional validity of the Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Order, 2006 that puts the onus of proving a particular person as a foreigner on the complainant.

A Bench of Justice S. B. Sinha and Justice P. K. Balasubramanyan reserved judgment after hearing senior counsel Ashok Desai, Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad on behalf of the petitioners, Solicitor-General G. E. Vahanvati for the Centre and senior counsel K.K. Venugopal for Assam.

The petitioners, Sarbananda Sonowal and Charan Chandra Deka, said the notification amending the Foreigners Act was issued after the Supreme Court had declared unconstitutional the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act and asked the Centre to determine the status of the foreigners in Assam under the Foreigners Act. They contended that the IMDT Act was struck down as it put the onus on the State/complainant that a person was an illegal migrant for the purpose of deportation. They alleged that now the same provision that had been held illegal had been incorporated in the amended Foreigners Act.

The notification was arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

Centre's contention

However, the Centre defended the Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Order, 2006 contending that it was aimed at preventing harassment of genuine Indian citizens in the name of detection and deportation. The notifications did not in any way contravene Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 on the question of burden of proof as alleged, the Centre said, and sought dismissal of the petitions.

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