GHC Set Assam Man Free from Detention Camp

The Gauhati High Court (GHC) has freed a man from the detention camp in Assam keeping aside an order by a foreigners' tribunal and asked it for a fresh hearing of his citizenship claims. The court observed that he should get one last chance since he was declared a foreigner in an ex parte order as he never appeared for trial due to his son's ill health.

Joydev Ghosh (50) was set free on bail on Thursdayfrom a detention camp at Silchar jail after being in detention for a year.Ghosh said that he couldn't attend the tribunal hearing since he was runningpillar to post to save the life of his only son who died of cancer at the ageof 17.

Speaking to reporters at Silchar, Ghosh said that during the time of the hearing, his son was battling with blood cancer and as a father, he had tried his best to save his son but all went in vain. He said, "I am a poor person. I used to work in a private shop and earned a very minimum income. My earning is too little to spend on treatment of my ailing son and at that time it was not possible for me to hire a lawyer and attend the trials and therefore, I couldn't attend the tribunals hearing."

He said that he voted in the last Lok Sabha polls and saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi win for the second term and within days police picked him up. He was not even aware as to why the police picked him up and it was in the police station that he got to know that he has been declared a foreigner.

Ghosh was declared a foreigner in 2018 after he wassuspected to be a foreigner in 2016 by the Assam border police and a reference casewas sent to the foreigners' tribunal at Karimganj.

Ghosh was arrested in May 2019 and sent to thedetention camp.

In his petition to the Gauhati High Court, Ghosh said the tribunal records show the notice was served and it was received by someone named Nirmali Ghosh, while his wife's name is Nirmala Ghosh.

He said the notice was never served and thesignature on the receipt does not match with her signature, the High Court'sorder added.

While setting aside the tribunal's order, the High Court said Ghosh should get at least one more opportunity to prove his citizenship.