No respite for 102-year-old Chandradhar Das, he is asked to report again on September 14

102-year-old Chandradhar Das tumbled his way up to the first floor of the foreigners’ tribunal court. Going up the stairs is like an Everest summit to him and if he was hoping that today would be the last time he is climbing the stairs, well his dreams are already shattered. The member of the Foreigners Tribunal, after hearing the case asked him to report back on September 14, 2018.

No, Das was not short of documents but the government fell short of lawyers. Chandradhar Das along with his daughter Niyati Roy reported to the building in Rangirkhari Silchar at 9 AM in the morning. Das, who does not have the strength of standing for a minute on his feet, sat on the floor of the building waiting for the member (judge) to come and start the proceedings. Das’s counsel Soumen Choudhury too waiting along with his client. Around 12 noon, the member took his chair and announced that he won’t be able to pronounce a judgement due to unavailability of a government lawyer. It is worth mentioning here that in the previous hearing on August 2, 2018, Das did not report to the court and was represented by his lawyer and daughter. The Tribunal then asked them to get Das in person on August 14. And when he did, the lawyer was not available.