New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 4) slammed the state government of Assam for not deporting persons declared foreigners in detention centres and keeping them there indefinitely and said that once the detainees were identified as foreigners, they should be deported immediately,
A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan directed the Assam government to start process of deportation of 63 declared foreign nationals, whose nationality was known, and file a status report within two weeks.
The bench questioned the explanation by the state government that it was not sending nationality verification forms to the Ministry of External Affairs as the addresses of detainees in the foreign country were unknown.
Are you waiting for some muhurat, bench asked
“You have refused to start deportation saying their addresses are not known. Why should it be our concern? You deport to their foreign country. Are you waiting for some muhurat (auspicious time)?” the bench asked.
The bench questioned the Assam chief secretary, who appeared virtually, for delay in deporting detainees declared foreigners and told him, “Even without address, you can deport them. You can’t continue to detain them indefinitely.”
How can you keep them detained here saying their foreign address is not known, bench asked
The counsel representing the Assam government expressed helplessness in deporting the detainees declared foreigners without addresses.
“You deport them to the capital city of the country. Suppose the person is from Pakistan, you know the capital city of Pakistan? How can you keep them detained here saying their foreign address is not known? You would never know the address,” the bench told the counsel and added, “the State exchequer is spending on the persons detained for so many years and this concern doesn’t seem to be bothering the government.”
Apex court directed Assam government to file a proper affidavit
The bench, while observing that the state government has filed an affidavit which is as vague as its earlier affidavits and that it was suppressing facts, directed the Assam government to file a proper affidavit.
“We direct the state (Assam) to file a proper affidavit reporting compliance with this order. If the state government finds that nationality verification forms have been sent two months back, the state will immediately issue a reminder to 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 bench said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta expressed apology for the lacunaes in the affidavit filed by Assam government
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta expressed apology for the lacunaes in the affidavit filed by the state government of Assam and assured the bench that he would speak to the highest executive and furnish all details in court.
“Let me sit with Ministry of External Affairs. It is not a state subject. It is a central subject which is diplomatically dealt with the Centre. I will speak with the official concerned,” Mehta told the bench.
The bench also directed the Centre to place on record the details of declared foreigners who are not Indian nationals and the details of the persons who have so far been deported and also apprise how it proposed to deal with detainees whose nationality was unknown.
