People can avail free legal aid only if they fulfil certain criterion: Justice (Retd) B K Sharma

Justice (Retired) B K Sharma assured that an individual can avail free legal advice under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 only if they fulfill certain criterion.

Assam: With the final NRC being published on August 31 and lakhs of people facing the threat of being declared "foreigners" overnight, Justice (Retired) B K Sharma said that a person can avail free legal aid if he/she fulfils certain criterion mentioned in Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, Justice (Retired) B K Sharma said, "Under the provision of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, if a person is declared foreigner he/she is entitled to appeal in front of the foreigners' tribunals. The person can even avail free legal aid if he/she fulfils certain criterion mentioned in Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987."

Earlier, the Assam government had said that it will bear the legal expenses of needy people excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) so that they can appeal to foreigners’ tribunals for the inclusion of their names.

Foreigners' tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies that exclusively adjudicate matters of citizenship.

"People are criticising political parties for providing free legal aid to people whose names might not be included in the NRC. But, even Kasab, a Pakistani national got free legal aid to defend himself," he said.

Elaborating on the procedure by which a person is declared foreigner and the options available with the individual to prove otherwise, Sharma said, "Merely non-inclusion of the name in NRC cannot declare a person as a foreigner but the burden is always on the suspect to prove he is not a foreigner. However, those who will be declared foreigners by tribunals will be not included in the NRC list."

"The declaration will be made by Foreigner's tribunal after the reference is given by Jurisdictional Superintendent of Police," added Sharma.

He further said, "Reference will be answered in reference from Foreigners Act 1946 and Foreigners Order 1964. Section 9 of the Foreigners Act says that burden is always on the suspect to prove he is an Indian Citizen."

"If the name is not mentioned in the NRC list, the district administration can appeal against a person as a suspected foreigner. The individual will also file an appeal and both the cases will be heard simultaneously," added Sharma.

Also Read:The story of citizenship: A timeline of events in Assam that led to NRC