By Aliza Noor
Sixty-three-year old Anowara Khatun from Bhakuamari village, Barpeta district in Assam was declared to be a foreigner/illegal immigrant by the Foreigner’s Tribunal. Khatoon had been confined to a detention centre for the past one year and five months.
On 21 March, the Supreme Court directed her release from the detention centre. Due to financial constraints, Khatun was unable to afford a lawyer and could not appear in the court to prove her case.
Previously, the Guwahati High Court had dismissed the petition filed in her case, thereby, confirming the FT’s order.
Since foreigner tribunals work on a reverse burden of proof (meaning that the person accused of being a foreigner has the burden to prove they are an Indian citizen), she was declared an illegal immigrant and was confined to the Transit Camp, Matia for 1.5 years.
The Quint accessed the court’s interim order as well as the petition filed in Khatun’s case. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and AOR Talha Abdul Rahman’s team were Khatun’s lawyers.
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.
