The Order provide relief to 47.09 lakh applicants, who use the document to establish linkage with fathers and husbands
Jamiat Ulma e Hind (A) which approched the apex court has welcomed the ruling saying it is great victory for innocent people of Assam
Our Correspondent / NEW DELHI
In a major ruling, the Supreme Court of India today set aside Gauhati High Court’s order, allowing Gram panchayat (GP) certificates to be used to establish linkages after the verification process in Assam.
The Supreme Court said that the residency certificate issued by Gram Panchayat secretary to a married woman for including her name in the National Register of Citizenship should be accepted as a supporting document to establish a linkage between the holder of such certificate and the person(s) from whom legacy is being claimed.
A Bench of Supreme Court headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Justice Rohinton F Nariman over turned the order of Gauhati High Court which had invalidated these certificates for claiming citizenship. The Order will provide relief to 47.09 lakh applicants, who use the document to establish linkage with fathers and husbands.
The bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman in their judgment today said, “We make it clear that the certificates issued by the G.P. Secretary/Executive Magistrate will however be acted upon only to establish a linkage between the holder of such certificate and the person(s) from whom legacy is being claimed”
The issuance of the residency certificate is a supporting document for further inquiry on the claim to be included in the NRC being prepared for Assam.
“The certificate will be put to such limited use only if the contents of the certificate are found to be established on due and proper enquiry and verification’, the court said in its judgment.
Speaking for the bench, Justice Gogoi said, “The certificate issued by the G.P. Secretary merely acknowledges the shifting of residence of a married woman from one village to another. The said certificate by itself and by no means establishes an claim of citizenship of the holder of the certificate.”
Pointing out that this has been made clear in the “illustrative list of documents” specifying it to be “only a supporting document”, the court said that the residency certificate having the details of lineage is to be used for the limited purpose of providing a linkage after “due enquiry and verification.”
The State Coordinator for NRC, Prateek Hajela had on October 8 submitted a report stating that 17.40 lakh of the total 47.09 lakh applicants have been identified as Original Inhabitants of Assam. While the remaining 26.13 lakh applications are yet to be identified.
The 29.69 lakh included 1.29 lakh un-married women, 26.13 lakh married women and 2.32 lakh male, his report said. “We set aside the order of the High Court insofar as the invalidity of the Certificate issued by the G P Secretary is concerned and allow the present appeals.
“We make it clear that the certificate issued by the GP Secretary will however, be acted upon only to establish linkage between the holder of such certificate and the persons from whom legacy is being claimed. The certificate will put to such limited use only if the content of the certificate are found to be established on due and proper enquiry and verification, “the Bench said.
“The Gauhati High Court order which said a residency certificate issued by the gram panchayat had “no statutory sanctity” to make a claim in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam and could” at best be a private document
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s order said that it appear that the list of illustrative documents including the G P Secretary certificate were agreed to by all stakeholders in the process of update of the NRC and had been approved by the Upon Government, as well as State Government after which order were issued to the district level officers.
The certificate issued by the GP Secretary merely acknowledges the shifting of residence of married women from one village to another.The certificate by itself and by no means establishes claim of citizenship of the holder of the certificate. It has been made clearin the several reports of the State Coordinator, NRC Assam that a claim accompanied by such a certificate, without details of the legacyperson, is to be discarded.
The certificate issued by the GP Secretary by no means, is proof of citizenship. Such proof will come only if the link between the claimant and the legacy person, who is to be a citizen, is established. The certificate has to be verified in two stages. The first is the authenticity of the certificate itself and the second is the authenticity of the content.The Supreme Court said that the contentions advanced on behalf of the State that the document is a ‘private document’ would be legally fragile.
In the originally inhabitant case, the Supreme Court said the exercise of upgrade of NRC is not intended to be one of identification and determination of who are originally inhabitants of the State of Assam.The sole test for inclusion in the NRC is citizenship under the Constitution of India and under the Citizenship Act including Section6 A, the Bench said.
Citizens who are OIs of Assam and those who are not are at par for inclusion in the NRC. “In view of the above, we do not find any reason to issue any direction or clarification as to the meaning of the term ‘Originally Inhabitant of the State of Assam’ as sought for in the present Writ Petitions and the Interlocutory Applicants, which are accordingly disposed of in terms of our directions and observation,” the Bench said.
The Supreme Court remarked that the prayers made in the Writ Petitions is founded on the apprehension that by the process of verification of the claims to be originally inhabitants of the State of Assam a superior class of citizens is being created. The question who is originally inhabitant of Assam, according to the applicants and the Writ Petitioners, may also have impact on the entitlement of such persons in matters of opportunities for education, employment vis-a-vis the second category of citizens, who are not originally inhabitants of Assam.“All such apprehensions are wholly unfounded,” the Bench said.