In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court of India set aside 27 Gauhati High Court judgments that had upheld Foreigners Tribunal orders declaring 27 individuals as foreigners. A division bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta ruled that because citizenship carries profound constitutional weight, any determination must adhere to a "fair, lawful, and reasonable" process.

The Apex Court quashed the prior orders and remanded all 27 cases back to the respective tribunals for fresh adjudication. While acknowledging the State’s legitimate interest in preventing fraudulent citizenship claims, the court emphasized that national security and legal interests cannot override procedural fairness.

The tribunals must now decide the cases independently on their own merits, uninfluenced by past rulings. The Supreme Court clarified that this decision strictly corrects procedural flaws and does not grant automatic legal benefits to those who fail to establish citizenship.