Assam: Ministry of Home Affairs extends term of 64 additional Foreigners Tribunals by a year

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Central Government has extended the term of 64 Additional Foreigners Tribunals (FTs) for Assam by one year. The term of these tribunals expired in May 2024.

Following the need for the operation of these additional FTs in the state, the state government did request the Government of India for the extension of their term. Since FTs come under the category of central subjects, the central government's nod is a must for their operations in any state. The state government, in its letter to the Centre, did justify the need for the operation of these 64 additional FTs in the state, where many citizenship-related cases have been pending.

Finally, after an in-depth examination of the issue, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Assam Chief Secretary that it had extended the term of the 64 additional FTs of Assam till May 2025.

According to sources, besides extending the terms of the 64 additional FTs, the MHA also extended the terms of the FT members and FT employees by a year.

Assam has 100 FTs: 36 permanent and 64 additional ones.

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. In 2023, the MHA extended the term of the 64 additional FTs for a year.

Around 1 lakh cases are pending in the 100 FTs in the state.

 Also Read: Assam government to review the functioning of Foreigners’ Tribunals (sentinelassam.com)

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