Supreme Court slams Assam govt for not deporting foreigners

New Delhi: “Are you waiting for some muhurat”, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Assam government, which was censured for keeping persons declared foreigners in detention centres indefinitely and not deporting them. Observing Assam was suppressing facts, a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said once the detainees were identified as foreigners, they ought to be deported immediately.

“You have refused to start deportation saying their addresses are not known. Why should it be our concern? You are deported to their foreign country. Are you waiting for some muhurat (auspicious time)?” the bench asked. The top court expressed surprise at the Assam government’s explanation that it was not sending nationality verification forms to the Ministry of External Affairs as detainees’ addresses in the foreign country were unknown.

“Once you declare a person a foreigner, then you have to take the next logical step. You cannot detain them till eternity. Article 21 of the Constitution is there. There are many foreigner detention centres in Assam. How many have you deported?” the bench questioned the Assam government counsel. The top court directed the Assam government to initiate the deportation process of 63 declared foreign nationals, whose nationality was known, and file a status report in two weeks. “We direct the state 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.