A tea garden worker was released on bail from a detention centre at Silchar in Assam on Thursday.
According to the Supreme Court order passed in May last year, the tea garden worker Sukhdev Ree was released on bail from the detention centre after being imprisoned there for three years on being declared a ‘foreigner’ by a tribunal.
The apex court in May last year asked the State Government to release detainees who have completed three years detention subjected to some condition.
Apart from Ree, the names of all the members of his family have appeared in the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Ree’s wife Sishubala said that after receiving a notice from DSP (Border) of Hailakandi district in 2012 that he was a person of doubtful citizenship, her husband had submitted all his documents before a Foreigners Tribunal in 2013 to prove his nationality.
However, Ree was unable to attend repeated cross examinations due to their inability to pay their lawyer’s fee following which he was declared a foreigner in 2016.
He was then sent to the detention centre in Silchar, his wife added.
Ree’s family feels that he will have to live with the foreigner tag for the rest of his life as they find it difficult to fight against the tribunal’s ruling in the Gauhati High Court due to theirpoor financial condition.