Study Finds Clerical Errors in Documents Threaten Citizenship in Assam

Quick Summary

• Citizenship Challenges in Assam: Multiple cases have been dismissed in the gauhati High Court due to discrepancies and errors in names across electoral rolls, leading to denial of citizenship claims.
• Role of Name Variations: A study by the National Law School of India University and Queen Mary University of london highlighted how interchangeable titles, honorifics, nicknames, and clerical errors ofen cause inconsistencies in identification documents for Assam residents.
• Study Findings: The report titled Unmaking Citizens: The Architecture of Rights Violations and Exclusion in India’s Citizenship Trials pointed out systematic violations during citizenship determination processes, such as arbitrary adjudication, inadequate consideration for evidence anomalies, lack of access to inquiry reports, and denial of fair trial rights.
• Pervasive Suspicion Culture: The Foreigners’ Tribunal often interprets minor variations or nicknames as discrepancies rather than exploring their legitimacy systematically.judicial decisions occasionally take pragmatic views but are inconsistent overall.
• Legal Critique: The study criticized procedural gaps-executive arbitrariness upheld by courts-and structural barriers faced by individuals attempting to prove their citizenship through documentation inconsistencies.

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