Gauhati HC directs fresh hearing of case of Assam detainee

Guwahati, March 6 Setting aside an order by a foreigners' tribunal in Assam, the Gauhati High Court has bailed out a man from detention centre while ordering the tribunal to hear afresh his citizenship claims.

The court observed that one last chance needs to be given to Joydev Ghosh, 50, as he was declared a foreigner in an ex-parte order after he never appeared for trial.

The court bailed out Ghosh from a detention centre in Cachar district's Silchar jail where he remained in detention for nine months.

The man said he could not attend the tribunal's proceedings as his battle with his son's blood cancer had kept him busy. The 17-year-old died later.

Ghosh said he was a poor man who spent his little earning on the ailing son and hence could not afford a lawyer.

"After the police took me to a police station, I learnt I have been declared a foreigner without any hearing," he told media persons in Silchar.

( With inputs from IANS )