Exploring old law allowing ‘push back’: Sarma
The CM said pushing back illegal migrants will continue, adding that the process of identifying foreigners, which had been paused due to NRC-related matters, will now be accelerated
The Assam government is looking into the details of “an old law” that will allow it to “push back” infiltrators without having to mandatorily approach foreigners tribunals, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Nalbari, Sarma said that a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing a case on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, had said that there is no legal requirement for the Assam government to always approach the judiciary in order to identify foreigners.
“There exists an immigrants expel order, which is an old law. The Supreme Court has said that this law is in force and a deputy commissioner can give permission for immediate pushback under it,” he maintained.
“For whatever reason, our lawyers had not informed us and we too didn’t know about it. The entire matter has come to light in the last few days. We will now discuss it further,” he added.
The chief minister said pushing back illegal migrants will continue, adding that the process of identifying foreigners, which had been paused due to NRC-related matters, will now be accelerated.
“And when the identification of a foreigner happens, there will be no need to send the case to any tribunal. We will directly push them back. We have been preparing for it,” he added.
Sarma said the process of pushback will continue, though no person with a case pending before the court will be sent back.
His comments came even as the state witnessed protests over “harassment” of minorities in the name of detecting illegal immigrants.
Members and supporters of the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) wore black badges and displayed placards against the purported recent pushback of Bangladeshis in the state.
They carried out the protest in different parts, including Chirang and Jogighopa, after Eid namaz.
