GUWAHATI: Assam will follow a lesser-known 1950 law – Immigrants Expulsion Order – to push back illegal immigrants, a move that is likely to open up Pandora’s box, for this is against the conventional process.
Stating that the process of identifying “foreigners”, which slowed down due to matters relating to the National Register of Citizens, will now continue at a faster pace, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said: “This time, if someone is identified as a foreigner, we will not have to take up the case with the foreigners’ tribunal to push back the person.”
He said during an earlier hearing on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the Supreme Court had mentioned that it was not binding on the Assam government to always approach the judiciary in order to push back foreigners.
“There is an old law – Immigrants Expulsion Order. The Supreme Court said this law is still in force. According to this law, the DC (district commissioner) has the authority to issue an order and give permission for pushback,” he said.
“For whatever reason, our lawyers had not informed us about this order and we weren’t aware of it either. This came to our attention recently. We will now discuss it seriously. Meanwhile, the process of pushback will continue,” he further stated.
He said the government has already pushed back a number of people. However, those with cases pending in court have not been pushed back, he added.
The foreigners’ tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies that deal with the cases of suspected foreigners.
All these years, when a person was declared “foreigner” by a foreigners’ tribunal, he or she could challenge this judgement in the High Court and the Supreme Court.
The Assam government has already drawn censure from minority organisations after the recent pushback from people.
Minority-based opposition party All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) petitioned Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya recently, protesting “continued” harassment of Indian Muslims on the pretext of identifying and apprehending “so-called illegal foreigners” in the state.
The party alleged people, especially from the Muslim community, were being picked up, interrogated and even arrested on the mere suspicion of being illegal immigrants.
“The actions have often been taken without credible evidence, legal notice, or proper verification of documents. Some were released after they were found to be genuine Indian citizens,” the party had stated in a memorandum submitted to the governor.