Supreme Court seeks information about Detention Centres & number of detainees in Assam

January 28: In an important development, Supreme Court of India has sought detailed information about the Detention Centres in Assam from the Centre. The apex court has further asked to provide it with the number of foreigners detained there during the last 10 years. On Monday, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjeev Khanna was hearing a petition filed by activist Harsh Mazumdar on the condition of detention centers and its inhabitants in Assam.

“We would like to know as to how many detention centres are there. We also want to know how many persons are lodged there and since when,” the bench said. The bench, which has sought details within three weeks from the authority, has now posted the matter for further hearing on February 19.

As such, the Centre will now have to respond within January 19, the details about the detention centres, the period of detention of detainees, the status of their cases before the Foreigners Tribunal, how many persons are being declared foreigners so far and how many of them have been deported till date.