Guwahati: The Supreme Court has granted the Assam government two weeks to respond to petitions challenging orders that declared five women as illegal foreigners. The extension was allowed after the state’s counsel sought additional time to file counter-affidavits in the matter.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, in its July 16 order, directed the Assam government to submit its vakalatnama and counter-affidavits within two weeks.
“As prayed, two weeks is granted to the counsel for the respondent-State of Assam to file vakalatnama and counter affidavit(s) in all the cases. List after two weeks,“ the bench said.
The latest order follows the Supreme Court‘s June 5 decision to stay the deportation of the five women while it considers their appeals against separate Gauhati High Court judgments that upheld the decisions of the Foreigners Tribunals.
During the hearing, counsel representing one of the petitioners cited the Supreme Court’s July 13 ruling, which underscored that citizenship must be determined through a process that is fair, lawful, and based on reasoned findings.
Another lawyer informed the bench that two of the petitioners remain in detention, while noting that the Supreme Court had already ordered status quo on their deportation.
The Assam government’s counsel requested additional time to file replies, which the bench accepted.
The Gauhati High Court had previously dismissed the women’s petitions seeking to overturn the Foreigners Tribunals’ decisions declaring them illegal migrants who had allegedly entered India from Bangladesh.
In its July 13 judgment on a separate batch of appeals involving proceedings before the Foreigners Tribunals in Assam and the former Illegal Migrants (Determination) Tribunals, the Supreme Court set aside several Gauhati High Court rulings that had affirmed declarations of individuals as foreigners. The apex court directed the concerned tribunals to reconsider those cases independently, without being influenced by earlier observations of the tribunals or the High Court.
The Supreme Court also observed that while the State has a legitimate interest in preventing ineligible individuals from obtaining Indian citizenship through false claims or misuse of legal procedures, the determination of citizenship must be carried out through a process that is fair, lawful, and reasoned.