STATELESSNESS IN INDIA Owing to its arbitrary and discriminatory nature, the processes resulted in the exclusion of about 1.9 million people from the Assam NRC, who now face mass statelessness.40 It received scathing international criticism including by Special Rapporteurs of the OHCHR.41 (D) Judicial review and oversight of FTs Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies set up by executive order42 under Section 3 of the Foreigners Act, 194643 for adjudicating the citizenship status on a referral made by authorities. The SCI, after striking down the IMDT Act, directed the establishment of FTs in Assam in 200544 and 2006.45 Currently, 100 tribunals are functioning and about 200 more are expected to be functional soon.46 FT presiding officers [judges], called Members, are not required to have judicial background or experience47 and have no security of tenure to ensure their independence. The tenure of their contractual appointments depends on the number of people they assess to be ‘foreigners’.48 40 Teesta Setalvad, Citziens for Justice & Peace, ‘What next for those left out of the NRC?’, August 31, 2019. 41 Please see note 5. In the communication with reference no OL IND 13/2018, four Special Rapporteurs expressed “serious concern that members of the Bengali Muslim minority in Assam have experienced discrimination in access to and enjoyment of citizenship status on the basis of their ethnic and religious minority status.” 42 The Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 1964, Annexure F. 43 The statement of objects and reasons for the enactment makes it abundantly clear that the Foreigners Act, 1946 is a war emergency immigration law, reproducing in substance the provisions of earlier colonial laws on the subject like the Foreigners Act, 1864 and the Foreigners Act, 1940. This is a law meant for expulsion of foreigners without dispute of citizenship status and their apprehension and removal etc. and not for questioning citizenship of people enjoying such status for generations. 44 Sarbananda Sonowal v. Union of India & Anr., [2005] 5 SCC 665. 45 Sarbananda Sonowal (II) v. Union of India, [2006] SCC 174. 46 Re the Government of Assam & 3 Others, WP (C) 1754/2015, Order dated 20-05-2020. 47 Paragraph 2 (3) of the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 1964 uses a vague term “judicial experience” as qualification for appointment. It is not clear whether experience as a judge in a court of law is required. In practice retired bureaucrats are appointed along with lawyers with a few years practice, Annexure F. 48 Amnesty International, Designed to exclude: How India’s Courts are allowing Foreigners tribunals to render people stateless in Assam, 2019, pp. 26-27; Karan Deep Singh & Suhasini Raj, the New York Times, ‘Muslims are Foreigners’: Inside India’s Campaign to Decide Who is a Citizen, April 4, 2020. 6