Guwahati, July 2 -- The Gauhati High Court on Tuesday, June 30, declared a 38-year-old man in Assam a foreigner despite him furnishing 15 separate documents to prove his Indian citizenship.

Citing the burden of proof under Section 9 of the Foreign Act, 1946, and inconsistencies in the identification documents, a division bench comprising Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Shamima Jahan dismissed the writ petition.

The petitioner, Aminul Hoque, a daily-wage labourer, was living in a rented place near Guwahati and had given an oral testimony, along with the established paper trail. The 15 documents included a 2017 school certificate, a copy of the 1951 National Register of Citizens (NRC), which listed his father and grandparents, several vote...