NEW DELHI: Holding that it is violation of human rights and also fundamental rights granted by the Constitution to foreigners to keep them in detention centres for indefinite period, Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Assam govt to take immediate step to deport 63 persons who have been declared ‘foreigners’ by tribunals. It also sought a response from the Centre on what should be done to the stateless people – those who are declared foreign nationals in India but whose nationality has not been established.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan slammed the state for delay in deportation as some of the foreigners are in detention centres for more than a decade and refused to accept the state’s defence that delay is because foreign addresses of the detained persons were not known. It asked why they cannot be taken to the capital city of their country and be dropped there.
“Lack of their foreign address cannot be a reason to delay the deportation. Show us that without an address, you cannot deport them. You cannot detain them indefinitely. If you know that they are from a particular country then it is for that country to decide where they should go. There is reluctance on your part. Put them on a plane to the capital of the country. It is a violation of their human rights and also fundamental rights granted to them under under Article 21,” the bench said.
As the state was facing a tough time during the hearing with the court accusing it of hiding facts, solicitor general Tushar Mehta came to the rescue and assured the bench that he will sit with chief secretary of the state and will also hold talks with the ministry of external affairs and then file a comprehensive affidavit. He said that deportation is a central subject and it is for the Centre to take a call.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that as per his information, Bangladesh was not accepting these persons as their citizens and they are continuing in detention centres.
The court granted four weeks time to Centre to file a detailed affidavit, giving details on the number of people deported and manner of their deportation. It also sought information on what should be done to those whose nationality has not been established but has been declared as foreign national in India.