3 min readJul 13, 2026 03:21 PM IST
First published on: Jul 13, 2026 at 11:45 AM IST
The Supreme Court on Monday set aside a batch of 27 judgments of the Gauhati High Court that had upheld Foreigners Tribunal orders declaring the appellants to be foreigners, ruling that citizenship determinations must be carried out through a fair, lawful and reasonable process.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta remanded all 27 cases to the concerned Foreigners Tribunals for fresh adjudication, noting that the question of citizenship carries significant constitutional weight.
Earlier, the Gauhati High Court had dismissed the challenge to an order of the Foreigners Tribunal declaring the petitioners foreigners. The High Court had noted that none of them appeared before a tribunal even after they were served notices.
The High Court held that, in the absence of any written statement, documents or evidence from the petitioners, “the Tribunal had no option but to affirm the reference.” The High Court relied on Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, which states that the burden of proving Indian citizenship rests entirely on an individual.
The main legal dispute centres on whether individuals can be declared foreigners and deprived of citizenship rights through ex parte proceedings based solely on their absence from court, especially when they possess government documents that support their claim to Indian citizenship. The conflict originated from an order issued on 9 May 1997 by the Illegal Migrant (D) Tribunal, which declared Sabitri Dey and her husband, Sambhu Dey, to be illegal migrants because they failed to appear in court after being summoned. The petitioners argued that they were unaware of the proceedings and that the order was based on hearsay evidence from an Enquiry Officer rather than substantive proof.
They claimed that they learnt of the 1997 tribunal order in 2019 and moved the Gauhati High Court. Before the High Court, they argued that failure to provide legal aid or appoint an amicus curiae constitutes a breach of Article 21 (the right to a fair and just procedure). The Gauhati High Court dismissed their initial appeal in 2020, citing “utter negligence” because they waited 23 years to challenge the 1997 order.
The case tests the limits of the Foreigners Tribunals’ power to render crucial decisions on citizenship without the participation of the accused, and whether the High Court erred in refusing to assess documentary evidence of citizenship due to procedural delays.
Foreigners Tribunal in Barpeta, Assam. (Photo: Abhishek Saha) 
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