STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: At last, the Central Government has extended the terms of the 64 Additional Foreigners Tribunals (FTs) of Assam for a year each. The Home and Political Department of the State Government has received an official communication regarding the extension of the terms of the additional FTs from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The State has 100 FTs: 36 permanent and 64 additional ones. Since the FTs are a central subject, the Union Home Ministry has to extend the term of the 64 additional FTs after an internal period of time. The terms of the 64 additional FTs for the state expired on May 23 this year. The State Home and Political Department did move the MHA seeking extension of the terms of the additional FTs and justified the move with the fact that the state still has over one lakh citizenship-related cases pending. It has been determined that it will be next to impossible for the 36 permanent FTs to dispose of the pending cases in time. The State Government had to move the MHA for the second time for the extension of the terms of the additional FTs as the latter had not responded to the plea initially.
The MHA responded to the request from Assam by extending the terms of the additional FTs, but by one year. Earlier, the Union Ministry used to extend the term of the additional FTs for two years. The additional tribunals were set up in 2015 in Assam following a directive from the Gauhati High Court with a view to offloading the burden of the citizenship-related cases on the 36 permanent FTs.
Earlier, the MHA extended the terms of the Additional FTs in 2017, 2019, and 2021. According to sources, besides extending the terms of the 64 additional FTs, the MHA also extended the terms of the FT members by a year. The FT members hear the FT cases and dispose of them.
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