NRC Row: Ex-Army Veteran Released From Detention Centre

Earlier on Friday, Mohammed Sanaullah had been granted bail by the Gauhati High Court.

Md Sanaullah, an army veteran, is being held at the Goalpara detention centre in Assam after he was declared a ‘foreigner’.

(Photo: The Quint)

Indian Army veteran Mohammed Sanaullah, who was sent to a detention camp in Assam after a tribunal declared him a 'foreigner' on 23 May, was released on Saturday, 8 June. Earlier on Friday, he had been granted bail by the Gauhati High Court.

WHAT HAPPENED IN FRIDAY’S HEARING?

A division bench of justices Manojit Bhuyan and Prasanta Kumar Deka on Friday, 7 June, heard a writ petition along with an interlocutory application and granted bail to Sanaullah on two local sureties of Rs 20,000 each, PTI reported.

"We have got the bail orders. He will be released from the detention camp soon," said Advocate Burhanur Rahma, who assisted senior lawyer Indira Jaising in the case in the High Court on Friday.

The court, however, made it clear that the authorities concerned will connect the biometrics of Sanaullah before releasing him from the detention centre, IANS reported.

The bench ruled that Sanaullah cannot leave Kamrup district, of which he is a resident, without the permission of its Superintendent of Police.

It also issued notices to the respondents, including the Union of India, the Assam government, the Foreigners' Tribunal, Boko and the then investigating officer Chandramal Das.

WHO IS MOHAMMAD SANAULLAH?

A resident of Kolohikash village in Boko area of Kamrup district, Sanaullah was serving as a sub-inspector in the Assam Border Police before being declared a ‘foreigner’ and dismissed from service.

Sanaullah served the Indian Army from 1987 to 2017. He was awarded a President’s Medal when he was promoted to the rank of Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in 2014. He retired as Honorary Lieutenant from the Indian Army.

After retirement, he had joined Assam police as a Sub-Inspector and was attached to the Border Wing of the Assam police.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO SANAULLAH?

The Foreigners' Tribunal at Boko last month declared 52-year-old Sanaullah a 'foreigner', following which he was sent to the detention centre at Goalpara. Following this, he was detained by the police on 28 May and sent to a detention camp.

The tribunal’s judgment was based on a case filed against him by the Border Police saying he is an illegal migrant.

His family members had filed the writ petition against the tribunal's 23 May order along with the interlocutory application.

He is among the 40 lakh people whose names were not included in the complete draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), published last year.

DEMAND FOR JUSTICE FOR SANAULLAH

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to ensure “justice” to Sanaullah.

In a letter to Shah, Gogoi, urged him to institute an inquiry into the alleged inefficiency of the police officers who had investigated Sanaullah’s case. He also demanded that the erring officials be barred from continuing their duty in such “irresponsible manner”.

People of Assam are pinning hopes on the central government for justice, he insisted.

On Tuesday, the Congress MP’s father and former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said the state government should move court to ensure relief for Sanaullah. This was in regard to the fact that he was an employee of the Assam Border Police at the time the judgement was passed by the Foreigners’ Tribunal.

THE NRC ISSUE

Almost a year ago, Assam had released the “complete draft” of National Register of Citizens (NRC), leaving out names of 40.07 lakh applicants, including that of Sanaullah.

The register aims to separate "genuine citizens" from "illegal immigrants". The final NRC is slated for release by 31 July.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS.)