SC hauls up Assam govt for delaying deportation of foreigners

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has reprimanded the Assam government for dragging its heels over deportation of individuals declared as foreigners. "Even without an address, you can deport them. You can't continue to detain them indefinitely... Once they are held to be foreigners, they should be deported immediately. You know their citizenship status. Then how can you wait till their address is received? It is for the other country to decide where they should go," a bench of justices AS Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan told Assam's chief secretary, who was present for the hearing virtually.

Justice Oka said such individuals could be deported to the capital city of their country. When the counsel for the state argued that addresses of foreigners were unknown, justice Oka verbally remarked: "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?"

The bench also cornered the state for not mentioning the date on which the verification was sent to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The bench warned the counsel that it would issue a perjury notice to the Assam government. Representing the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured that he has spoken to the highest authority of the executive. The bench said "the state exchequer is spending on the persons detained for so many years. This concern doesn't seem to be affecting the government".


Mehta assured the bench that he would sit with MEA officials and find a solution since the issue was not a state subject. The bench directed Assam to start the deportation process immediately. The state was also asked to file a detailed affidavit regarding the nationality verification process, including dates of actions taken, within two weeks.