Waiting for muhurat? Deport 63 declared foreigners: Supreme Court to Assam

Justice Oka told the Chief Secretary that the state can deport foreigners even without an address.“‘Foreign address not divulged’ — this is the reason to not deport?…You can’t continue to detain them indefinitely.”

“Once they are held to be foreigners, they should be deported immediately. You know the status of their citizenship. Then how can you wait till their address is received? It is for the other country to decide where they should go.”

When the counsel for the Assam government asked “where do we deport them to” without the address, Justice Oka said, “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,” he said.

Joining him, Justice Bhuyan told the state counsel, “Once you declare a person as a foreigner, then you have to take the next logical step. You can’t detain them forever. Article 21 right is there.”

Pointing out that there were many foreigner detention centres in Assam, Justice Bhuyan asked, “How many have you deported?”

Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for a detainee, said the state was struggling to give an answer because the authorities only determine whether or not an immigrant is a foreigner and do not determine his or her nationality. “What they determine is that they are not Indian. They are not determining what their nationality is. That is why they are struggling,” he said.

Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioner in the matter, said Bangladesh had refused to accept them and that this had made them homeless.

Justice Oka also told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre, that the state “is indulging in suppression of facts”.

The bench sought to know why the state had not mentioned the date on which the verification of the identity of those detained was done.

To the state’s submission that there was no intention to hide, Justice Oka said, “Of course, there is.”

The bench rejected the state’s request for more time to file a proper affidavit and said the last opportunity had already been given. Justice Oka said the court would be compelled to issue a perjury notice to the state.

Mehta said he had spoken to the highest authority of the state executive. He apologised for any shortcoming in the affidavit.

Justice Bhuyan sought to know if the process of deportation had begun. Mehta said he would sit with officials of the Ministry of External Affairs to resolve the issue.

“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,” he said.

In its order, the bench said, “When we asked the Chief Secretary of Assam, who was present through VC, whether the nationality of persons restrained are known, he answered affirmatively. If it is known that persons in serial number 1 to 63 are citizens of a particular country, there is no reason why the State of Assam cannot start the procedure for deportation.”

“Even if the address of these persons in the foreign country is not available, as the State is aware that they are citizens of a particular country, we direct the State to immediately start the process of deportation in respect of persons at serial number 1 to 63,” it stated.

The bench directed the state to file an affidavit within two weeks, updating the status. It said the state must ensure that all facilities in the detention centre are properly maintained.

It also asked the Centre to provide details of the number of people deported so far and to explain how it proposed to deal with foreigners whose nationality was not known.