A writ petition filed before the Gauhati High Court has questioned the citizenship status of Ratabari (SC) MLA Bijoy Malakar and sought his disqualification from the Assam Legislative Assembly, alleging that he is “not an Indian citizen”.
The petition, filed by Braja Gopal Sinha and Bijoy Kumar Kanu, claims that Malakar and his parents entered Assam after the March 25, 1971 cut-off date, rendering him ineligible to hold public office under the Constitution of India and the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Malakar was elected from the L.A. 1 Ratabari (SC) constituency in the 2021 Assembly elections.
According to the petitioners, questions regarding Malakar’s citizenship surfaced in the last week of October 2025 after they received information from what they described as “authentic sources”. They stated that they subsequently examined electoral rolls from different years, including the 1966 and 1971 voters’ lists of Karimganj town and nearby areas.
The petition alleges that Malakar’s name appeared for the first time only in the supplementary voters’ list of 2005, at Serial No. 318 of Part No. 96 under the Karimganj North Assembly constituency, and that there was “no valid basis” for its inclusion. It further claims that the name of his father was also absent from voters’ lists prior to 2005, including the 1966 and 1971 rolls. While his father’s name appears in the 2025 voters’ list, the petitioners allege that Malakar’s mother’s name does not feature in any electoral roll.
The plea has also raised objections to the findings of the district administration. It refers to a verification report submitted by the District Election Officer, Sribhumi, on November 29, 2025, and claims that the report fails to conclusively establish Malakar’s citizenship. The petition points out that the report itself records that “no linkage is found with the electoral roll of 1966 and/or 1971”, which is considered a crucial requirement under Assam’s foreigner detection mechanism.
The petitioners told the court that they had earlier submitted representations to the concerned authorities seeking a detailed enquiry into the MLA’s citizenship status, but alleged that no proper enquiry was conducted despite repeated requests.
Filed under Article 226 of the Constitution, the petition seeks a writ of quo warranto and other appropriate directions, arguing that Malakar’s continuation as an MLA violates Article 191(1)(d) of the Constitution, which relates to the disqualification of legislators.
Apart from Bijoy Malakar, the respondents in the case include the State of Assam, the Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly, the district administration, Border Police authorities, the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam and the Election Commission of India.