The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the State of Assam over its failure to deport to their respective countries, individuals declared as foreigners.
The Bench of Justice AS Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.
issued a perjury notice to the Government of Assam, directing it to file a detailed affidavit within two weeks on the nationality verification process, including dates of actions taken.
The Apex Court further observed that the state could not detain these individuals indefinitely after coming to know about their citizenship status. Once they were held to be foreigners, they should be deported immediately.
Attending the hearing through video conferencing, the Chief Secretary of Assam apprised the Apex Court that it could not deport these people in the absence of an address.
The Bench noted that even without knowing the full address, the state government could deport these individuals to the capital city of their native countries. Let the other country decide where they should go, it added.
Noting that as a state government, it was supposed to come clean, the top court of the country directed the State of Assam to start the deportation process immediately, even without foreign addresses of such persons.
It further ordered the Assam government to ensure better conditions in detention centres, forming a committee to inspect facilities fortnightly.
The Bench granted the Union of India a month’s time to clarify how to handle stateless individuals and listed the matter for further hearing on February 25.