All States Now Empowered to Set Up Foreigners Tribunals: Centre Amends 1964 Order

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has amended the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, empowering district magistrates in all states and Union Territories to constitute tribunals to determine whether a person staying illegally in India is a foreigner. Earlier, only the central government had the authority to set up such tribunals.

The move comes against the backdrop of the ongoing National Register of Citizens (NRC) process in Assam, which aims to identify illegal immigrants from Bangladesh who entered the state after March 25, 1971. The amended order, issued last week, substitutes the words 'Central Government may' with 'the Central Government or the State Government or the Union Territory administration or the District Collector or the District Magistrate may' in the relevant clause.

Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies that have been unique to Assam, where they determine if a person is a foreigner under the Foreigners Act, 1946. In other parts of India, individuals suspected of being illegal foreigners are produced before local courts under the Passport Act, 1920, or the Foreigners Act, 1946, with penalties ranging from three months to eight years in prison. After serving their sentence, they are moved to detention centres until their country of origin accepts them.

The MHA has sanctioned around 1,000 tribunals to be set up in Assam in light of the final NRC publication scheduled for July 31. The final draft of the NRC, published on July 30 last year on the directions of the Supreme Court, excluded nearly 40 lakh people. Of these, about 36 lakh have filed claims against their exclusion, while around 4 lakh have not filed any claim.

The amended order also allows individuals to approach the tribunals directly. Previously, only the state administration could refer a suspect. A senior government official explained that this change gives those excluded from the final NRC an opportunity to prove their citizenship. The official stated, 'If a person does not find their name in the final list, they could move the Tribunal.'

Additionally, district magistrates can refer individuals who have not filed claims against their exclusion to the tribunals. 'Opportunity will also be given to those who haven't filed claims by referring their cases to the Tribunals. Fresh summons will be issued to them to prove their citizenship,' the official added.

Last month, the MHA convened a meeting with representatives of all states to discuss procedures for the detection, detention, and deportation of foreign nationals staying illegally in India. The amended order is seen as a step to streamline the process across the country.