In a sharp rebuke of judicial overreach, the Supreme Court has ruled that a Foreigners Tribunal cannot reexamine its own decisions, striking down a Gauhati High Court judgment that had permitted such a review. The ruling came in response to a case involving an Assam woman, Rejia Khatun, who had already been declared an Indian citizen in a prior tribunal verdict.
A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan made it clear that once a tribunal has ruled on a matter, the only recourse is an appeal to a higher forum. It cannot unilaterally reopen cases and reassess its conclusions.
“The High Court missed the real issue. A tribunal cannot sit in appeal over its own judgment. It lacked the authority to overturn its own final decision, and on that ground alone, we set aside both the High Court ruling and the tribunal’s subsequent order,” the Court stated.
The case highlighted two conflicting tribunal orders concerning Khatun’s citizenship status. In 2018, the tribunal had declared her an Indian citizen after reviewing oral and documentary evidence, with the Assam government participating in the proceedings and raising no objections. Despite this, a fresh reference was initiated in 2019, leading the tribunal to reexamine the same case and demand a new written statement.
The Supreme Court took issue with this move, emphasizing that the tribunal had no statutory authority to reopen a settled case. It also noted that the government had never challenged the 2018 ruling, yet the tribunal unilaterally launched fresh proceedings, an action deemed impermissible.
“The tribunal cannot act as an appellate body over its own decisions. The correct course for the State or Union of India was to challenge the original 2018 ruling, which they failed to do,” the judgment clarified.
With this decision, the Supreme Court quashed the tribunal’s 2019 order and the Gauhati High Court ruling that had upheld it. Additionally, the Court made it clear that its verdict does not grant the government a fresh opportunity to challenge the original 2018 decision, which remains final.