The Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 4, 2025) pulled up the Assam government for detaining indefinitely people declared as foreigners in detention camps, asking the State whether it was waiting for an auspicious time to deport them.
A Bench of Justices A.S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan expressed surprise at the State’s affidavit that it was not sending nationality verification forms to the Ministry of External Affairs as the addresses of the detainees in their native country were not known.
Noting that once the detainees were identified as foreigners they ought to be deported immediately, the Bench asked whether the addresses of the foreigners should be of any concern to the authorities here.
“Why should it be our concern? You deport to their foreign country. Are you waiting for some muhurat [auspicious time]? Once you declare a person as a foreigner, then you have to take the next logical step. You cannot detain them for eternity. Article 21 of the Constitution is there. There are many foreigners lodged in detention centres in Assam. How many have you deported?” the Bench asked the counsel appearing for Assam.
The Bench further ordered the Centre to inform the court in what manner the cases of persons (whose nationality is not known) were being dealt with. The court also directed the Union government to place on record the details of declared foreigners, and the details and the number of persons who had so far been deported.
The court directed the State to file a proper affidavit reporting compliance.
“If the State government finds that nationality verification forms have been sent two months ago, it will immediately issue a reminder to the Ministry of External Affairs. As soon as such reminder is received by the Ministry, effective action shall be taken by the Ministry on the basis of nationality status verification,” the court ordered.
The Bench questioned Assam Chief Secretary Dr. Ravi Kota, who appeared via video-conferencing, about the delay in deportation. The court reminded the State that the public exchequer was bearing the cost of the detention of the foreigners in the detention centres.
“My information is that attempts are being made to figure out if Bangladesh will take these people out. Bangladesh is refusing. India says they are not Indians. Bangladesh says they are not Bangladeshis. They have become stateless. They are in detention for over 10 years. Bangladesh says they won’t accept anyone who lived in India for many years,” senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for a petitioner who raised the issue of deportation of declared foreigners and facilities at the detention centres in Assam, submitted.
The court directed the Assam State Legal Services Authority to conduct surprise visits at the Matia transit camp for foreigners to check the facility’s hygiene and food quality.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured he would sit with the highest authorities to sort out the issue. “Let me sit with the Ministry of External Affairs. It is not a State subject. It is a Central subject which is diplomatically dealt with by the Centre. I will speak with the official concerned,” Mr. Mehta said.
The court listed the case for February 25.
