Hindustan Times ·
Assam Foreigners Tribunal member accused of demanding bribe for bail arrested
The Foreigners Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body in Assam that determines if an individual is an illegal immigrant, and has the power to order their detention
A member of the Foreigners Tribunal (FT) in Assam’s Udalguri district has been arrested on charges of demanding a bribe to release a person on bail, a senior police officer said on Thursday.
Bhupen Chandra Pegu was arrested on Thursday on the basis of an investigation into the complaint received against FT member Bhupen Chandra Pegu on August 29, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Udalguri, Padmanabh Barua said.
The Foreigners Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body in Assam that determines if an individual is an illegal immigrant or a foreigner, and has the power to order detention of suspected foreigners in a designated camp.
Assam has about 100 such functional tribunals.
Police said Pegu, who has been a member of the tribunal since 2018, was accused of demanding a ₹15,000 bribe from a person whose case was pending before the tribunal on August 29.
A first information report (FIR) was lodged against Pegu at the Mazbat Police Station under Section 308(2) (extortion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) along with Section 7(a) (obtaining or attempting to obtain undue advantage to perform public duty improperly or dishonestly) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Police did not identify the complainant or the person who filed the complaint. A police statement said it took action after receiving information from an informant.
Baruah said Pegu was arrested on Monday and produced before the local judge.
Sishir Dey, a former member of the tribunal in Karimganj (now Sribhumi), said it was a dangerous trend.
He said he remembered allegations of efforts to influence tribunal proceedings in 2018-19. In this case, a member was subsequently suspended, he said, adding that similar accusations have been made from time to time.
“This recent case has raised the concern again, and if the allegations are true, the entire system needs to be scrutinised because FTs deal with citizenship and once a genuine Indian loses it, there are provisions for pushback,” he said.
According to social activist Kamal Chakraborty, though FTs are quasi-judicial institutions, their opinions on a person’s citizenship carry severe consequences.
“These opinions decide whether a person is Indian or an illegal migrant and we know many genuine Indians were declared foreigners by these FTs,” he said.
Former FT member and lawyer Dharmananda Deb said that if Pegu actually tried to manipulate the judicial process, he must be handed out exemplary punishment.
Senior advocate Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Chowdhury raised questions about the selection process of FT members.
“The state government selects members and most of them are ordinary practising lawyers,” he said, suggesting that the government should opt to appoint retired judges to tribunals instead of young lawyers.
Because of this lack of expertise and understanding of the law, the Gauhati High Court and even the Supreme Court have set aside many orders of FTs, he added.