Which Muhurta is waiting …? Supreme Court reprimanded Assam government for not submitting foreign nationals

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Tuesday reprimanded the Assam government as it did not take any steps to deport the persons who have been declared foreigners; And they are being kept in custody centers indefinitely. A bench headed by Justice AS Oka of the Supreme Court said in a strong comment in the case that are you waiting for a Muhurta? Justice Abhay S.K. A bench of Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan said that once a person is declared foreigner, it should be immediately deported. The Assam government clarified that the foreign addresses of these individuals are not known, so the process of sub -deployment was not started. Expressing surprise at this, the Supreme Court clearly termed the state government’s affidavit as flawless and expressed deep displeasure over it.

The bench said to the Chief Secretary of Assam (who had appeared through video conferencing) that you refused to start the Deputy on the basis of not being known. Why should it be our concern? You have to send them to their country. Are you waiting for a Muhurta (auspicious time)? Even if the address is not known, you can still check them. You cannot detain them indefinitely. Can ‘foreign address not known’ be the reason for not doing any deployment? Once you declare someone as foreign, it is necessary to take the next logical step. You cannot detain them indefinitely. There is also Article 21 of the Constitution. Assam has several foreign custody centers. How many people have you deported till now? ‘

The bench directed the Assam government to start exile of 63 people kept in custody centers within two weeks and file an affidavit on the order. In the petition filed in the Supreme Court, cases related to the facilities available in the sub -organization and custody centers of persons declared foreign in Assam have been raised.

Important questions during the hearing

-When the Assam government counsel asked the court that if their address is not known, where should we deport them?

-Justis Oka said that you can send them to the capital of that country. Suppose the person belongs to Pakistan, do you know the name of the capital of Pakistan? You cannot keep them into custody indefinitely by saying that their foreign address is not known. You will never get their address.

-The lawyer of a person who was in heritage, Shadan Farasat argued that the government is only determining that he/she is not an Indian. But they are not deciding which country they are citizens. This is why this problem remains.

-Aadlat said that once you declare a person as foreigner, you have to take the next logical step. You cannot keep them in custody forever. Article 21 of the Constitution (right to life and freedom) applies.

-Cereptic advocate Colin Gonsalvis (on behalf of the petitioner said that the Bangladesh government is refusing to consider these persons as its citizens. India says that they are not Indians. Bangladesh says that they are not Bangladeshi. These people have now become ‘stateless’. he/she has been in custody for 12–13 years.

—- Justice Oka also commented that the state government is spending government on them by keeping these people in custody for so many years. This concern does not seem to affect the government?

Supreme court order

-The government should immediately start the process of exile of 63 persons. The Assam government will have to file a new affidavit with a compliance report within two weeks. The next hearing will be held on 25 February.