Mumbai court held that the couple accused of being ‘Bangladeshi Infiltrators’ held election cards which were sufficient to prove their citizenship of India.
Mumbai| A couple in Mumbai were accused by the police of being “Bangladeshi infiltrators” residing illegally in Mumbai and an Additional Chief Magistrate of the Esplanade court in Mumbai held that the possession of election card is sufficient to prove their citizenship.
The 45-year-old Abbas Shaikh and his wife, Rabiyakhatun Shaikh, 40, were charge-sheeted in 2017 after a Mumbai police squad conducted a raid at their residence in Ray Road, Mumbai after they received information that Bangladeshi infiltrators were living in the area.
The couple were booked for breach of condition, of Rule 3 punishable under Rule 6 of the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950, and under Para 3(1) of the Foreigners Order, 1948 punishable under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946.
The prosecution witness had stated that the accused entered India through an unauthorised route, without valid documents of entry. The reasons for the move were stated to be “poverty and starvation” in Bangladesh.
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ACMM A H Kashikar observed that the accused have filed various original documents, most of which are issued by public authority and are acceptable as evidence, on record to prove their citizenships.
While Abbas had filed his Aadhar card, PAN card, election card, passbook, health card and ration card; Rabiyakhatun filed her Aadhar card, PAN card and election card.
The Court, while acquitting the duo also said that the prosecution completely failed to prove the charges it levelled against them.
Whereas, a 50-year-old woman living in a remote corner of Assam, who has trouble feeding her family, has been fighting a lone battle- to prove that she is Indian. Declared a foreigner by Assam’s Foreigners’ Tribunal, Jabeda Begum lost the battle in Gauhati High Court and now, the Supreme Court also looks distant.
Jabeda Begum lives in an isolated corner of Assam – in Baksa district, around 100 km from Guwahati. She is the only earning member of her family – her husband Rejak Ali has been ailing for long. The couple had three daughters, one of whom died in an accident and another one went missing. The youngest, Asmina, is a student of Class 5.
The woman who is from Goyabari village was declared a foreigner by the Tribunal in 2018. Her regular trips for a year were in vain. The High Court, citing one of its previous orders, declared the papers she submitted — land revenue receipt, bank documents and PAN card — were not conclusive proof of citizenship.
“I spent whatever I had. Now I am left with no more resources for another legal battle,” she said, breaking into tears.
At the tribunal, she had submitted 15 documents, including the voter lists of 1966, 1970, 1971 of her father Jabed Ali. The tribunal said she has produced no satisfactory linkage proof with her father.
The family did not make it to the National Register of Citizens that was rolled out in Assam last year. They did not vote either — both husband and wife were labelled “doubtful voters”.
Jabeda Begum has already sold three bighas of land they had to pay then legal fees. Now she works on others’ land for Rs.150 a day.
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