The Supreme Court has stayed deportation of four women declared to be foreign nationals and detained by the Foreigners Tribunal in Assam.
Issuing notice on the petitions filed by Basiram Nessa, Musstt Nureza Begum, Saleha Khatun and Sarbhanu Begum challenging the order for their deportation, a Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice V Mohana asked the Centre, the Assam Government and the Election Commission to respond to them by July 16 – the next date of hearing.
“In the meantime, the status quo, as it exists today, shall be maintained. Petitioners, if they are in detention, shall not be deported till the next date of listing i.e. 16th July, 2026,” the top court said in its June 5 order.
Established under the Foreigners Act, 1946, Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies which determine the citizenship status of individuals with suspected nationality or of those suspected of being illegal immigrants.
If a person of suspected nationality fails to provide any proof of his citizenship, the Foreigners Tribunal can send him to a detention centre/transit camp for his deportation to his home country.
Basiram Nessa claimed that she produced voter lists from 1965 and 1989 indicating the names of her grandfather and father, respectively, along with certificates by the local Gaonburah, which ‘certified’ that she was a daughter of Zakir Hussain — an Indian.
Nureza Begum, an illiterate, contended that the tribunal passed an ex parte order declaring her a foreign national. She said she had appeared before the tribunal and was asked to sign a register.
Saleha Khatun, an illiterate woman lodged in Goalpara detention camp since March 2, was ordered to be deported after the Foreigners Tribunal at Darrang declared her a foreign national and the Gauhati High Court affirmed it.
Sarbhanu Begum, an illiterate domestic worker, claimed that she was the daughter of late Mia Hussain, whose name was there in the pre-1971 electoral records of Barkur village in Darrang district of Assam.
