The Supreme Court has given the Assam government two weeks to clarify its position on the plea of five women identified as foreigners accused of entering Assam illegally. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta had ordered in July that the Supreme Court would hold the next hearing in two weeks after the Assam government’s counsel sought time to file petitions and counter-affidavits against five petitions challenging the orders of the Foreigners Tribunal and the Guwahati High Court.
A lawyer representing some of the applicants said during Thursday’s hearing that two women identified as foreigners are currently in detention camps. However, their deportation proceedings are currently on hold as the Supreme Court had earlier stayed the case. Earlier, on June 5, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear a plea challenging a separate order of the Guwahati High Court and stayed the stay on deportation proceedings. The Guwahati High Court had earlier dismissed a plea to quash the Foreigners Tribunal judgment that he had entered India illegally from Bangladesh.
During the hearing, another petitioner’s lawyer referred to a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in July. In its judgment, the Supreme Court clarified that the process of determining citizenship should be conducted in a fair, legal and reasonable manner. The Supreme Court has dismissed earlier judgments of the Guwahati High Court on several petitions related to the proceedings of the Assam Foreigners Tribunal and the Illegal Ex-Immigrants (Determination) Tribunal (IMDT). Also, the Supreme Court directed the concerned tribunals to try these cases afresh without being influenced by the previous scrutiny of the High Court or any other tribunal.
The Supreme Court further observed that it is a legitimate and imperative interest of the State to ensure that persons who are not legally eligible to claim Indian citizenship cannot take advantage of abuse of process, false claims or procedural delays in acquiring citizenship. However, at the same time, the Court emphasized that the entire process of citizenship determination should be impartial and legal. The Assam government is currently scheduled to submit an affidavit within two weeks before taking further legal steps to determine the future of these women.