By Bhupen Goswami (PNI)

Guwahati : The Center on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that 938 people are detained in six detention centers in Assam and 823 of them have been declared as foreigners by tribunals. The Center was responding to the January 28 queries of the apex court which had asked the Center and the state to provide details of functional detention centers in Assam and the foreigners detained in them during the last 10 years. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that both the Center and the state have filed their affidavits providing details sought by the apex court. The Center said over 27,000 foreigners have been pushed back at border points while attempting to enter India illegally. Solicitor General told the bench, also comprising Justices L N Rao and Sanjiv Khanna, that the Center has allotted Rs 47 crore and Assam has provided land for building a new detention center with various facilities, keeping in mind issues covering human rights. He said the new detention center will be ready by August 31. However, when Mehta was making his submissions the bench showered him with several questions. It also said that tribunal has declared only 52,000 as foreigners and the Center has deported only 162. “How can people have confidence in Assam government?” the bench said.

The bench also referred to the issue of NRC carried by the Assam government and said that only 40 lakh people were not included in it. It asked does this mean they are foreigners. The apex court further said that the problem of illegal migrants in Assam has been there for the last 50 years. “Why no steps taken to deport or repatriate them,” it said. Mehta said all illegal migrants have to go and he would take instructions on how to expedite repatriation. The apex court also sought to know the condition of detention centers saying PIL alleges sub-human condition. Meanwhile The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Assam government heavily on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) saying that ordinary people can not trust the Assam Government on NRC. “Forty lakh people were not included in Assam NRC means they were, prima-facie, foreigners, but tribunals declared only 52,000 as foreign and of this, the government has deported only 162.” The bench asked solicitor General Tushar Mehta.The bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi said, “How can people have confidence in the Assam government? You are creating confusion.” Mehta, for his part, maintained that all those 40 lakh people left out of the NRC in Assam can’t be termed as illegal immigrants. “They can be prima facie called so but the non-inclusion in NRC can’t make one illegal foreigner,” he submitted adding that condition of the detention centres was sub-human.