Ex-Army man, lodged in Assam detention camp after being declared ‘foreigner’, granted bail
The Gauhati High Court on Friday granted interim bail to a retired Indian Army Subedar who was declared a foreigner by a tribunal and sent to a detention camp last week. Acting on a petition filed by the family, a division bench comprising Justice Manojit Bhuyan and Justice Prasanta Kumar Deka ordered the immediate release of Mohammad Sanaullah, who is at present lodged in a detention camp in Goalpara district. The court also issued notices to the Centre, the Assam government, the state coordinator for National Registrar of Citizen (NRC) and others. “Fantastic news. Courts to the rescue of Army veteran who served India for thirty years and was then declared a “foreigner”. At moments like these proud to be a lawyer, proud of our courts,” noted Supreme Court lawyer Indira Jaising, who represented Sanaullah, tweeted. The retired veteran is expected to come out of the detention camp on Saturday after completion of necessary formalities. The court hasn’t quashed the earlier order of the foreigners’ tribunal and hearings on the petition will continue. Sanaullah, who had won a president’s medal, was declared a “foreigner” by the Foreigners Tribunal, Kamrup, on May 23, following a case registered in 2008 after his name was listed as a “D” (doubtful) voter. “We all including my mother are very happy with the news about my father. But I think it will take some time for him to get released from detention camp,” said Sanaullah’s daughter Shahnaz Akhtar.
