Gauhati HC orders release of man ‘illegally detained’ in recent crackdown on foreigners
The court ordered the superintendent of police (border) of Goalpara district to ensure that the order to release the detainee is complied with.
The Gauhati high court has ordered the immediate release of a person who was illegally detained as part of a recent drive against illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, people aware of the matter said on Tuesday.
A division bench comprising justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Malasri Nandi issued the directive acting on a petition filed by Mozida Begum, a resident of Goalpara district, against the detention of her son Hasinur by the police since May 25.
“It becomes the duty of the court to protect the fundamental right of the detained person under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The arrest of a person, who is enlarged on bail (bail period extended by court) amounts to overreach of the orders passed by this court, and therefore such an illegal detention cannot be allowed even for a minute,” the court order, which HT has seen, read.
The court issued a habeas corpus writ (order to release a person who has been illegally detained) directing the in-charge of the holding centre (for illegal immigrants) at the 7th Assam Police Battalion at Charaikhola in Korajhar district to release Hasinur immediately on production of a certified copy of the court order.
The court also ordered the superintendent of police (border) of Goalpara district to ensure that the order to release the detainee is complied with.
“In the event the state has any compelling reason to keep the son of the petitioner in detention and/or if the detention of the said detenue has been necessitated for non-compliance of conditions on which he was released on bail, the competent authorities should be well advised how to take appropriate steps,” the court order added.
The court directed that on the next date of hearing (June 20), the home and political department of the Assam government should inform the court whether the order on Hasinur’s release has been complied with.
According to the petition, a foreigners tribunal in Kamrup Metropolitan district had passed an order on December 12, 2018 declaring Hasinur to be a foreigner (with roots in Bangladesh), who had entered Assam post March 25, 1971 (the cut off date to prove citizenship)
Following the order of the tribunal, Hasinur had filed an appeal in 2020 in the Gauhati High Court, which is still pending. In June 2021, Hasinur was granted bail following a HC order directing release of all persons who have been declared illegal by tribunals and have spent two years in detention (due to the Covid-19 pandemic).
The bail order stipulated that Hasinur would give attendance at the Goalpara police station at regular intervals, a directive which he has been following.
The petition states that on May 25 the border police of Goalpara took Hasinur into custody and thereafter, he was shifted to the transit camp (for illegal immigrants and persons declared as foreigners by tribunals) at Matia in the same district.
But when Mofiza went there she found that her son was not at the transit camp. This led her to file the present petition in HC praying for production of her son before the court forthwith.
The petition also sought Hasinur’s release and the court’s order restraining the authorities from deporting him to Bangladesh. Following this the state government informed the court on June 6 that Hasinur was lodged at the holding centre in Kokrajhar district.
In the past few weeks, following directives from the union home ministry, authorities in Assam have detained many persons for them being alleged illegal immigrants and tried to push them back into Bangladesh.
On June 9, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the state assembly that his government has pushed back almost 300 illegal Bangladeshis to the neighbouring country in the past few months.
Addressing a one-day special session, the CM informed that the process to push them back will continue as per provisions of a 1950 law to identify and evict illegal foreigners.
“We will adopt two roads to deal with illegal foreigners. One is to take their cases to foreigners tribunals and the other to use provisions of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950,” Sarma said.
He stated that his government has decided to enforce provisions of the 1950 Act into action and empower district commissioners to identify and push back illegal Bangladeshis without referring to the foreigners tribunals.
Assam has 100 such tribunals where people deemed to be illegal foreigners and who have entered the state after March 25, 2025 (the deadline set to identify illegal immigrants in the state) are referred to and their cases heard.
Once they are declared as foreigners by these tribunals they are sent to detention centres set up for such illegals. They have the option of appealing their cases in higher courts with proper documents.
