The Centre has decided to file a review petition in the Supreme Court seeking reversal of the judgment that quashed the Foreigners (Tribunal for Assam) Order, 2006. The law had introduced a controversial process of identifying illegal migrants in the state by putting the onus of proof on the prosecution that is different from the system prevailing in the rest of the country.The review petition will come up for hearing on February 12 in the Supreme Court. In the petition, the Centre has made the plea that the Supreme Court should take note of the tribunals functioning on or before the July 12, 2005 order and that the old tribunals be incorporated in the new order. Measures taken by the state government to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which is aimed at checking illegal influx, has also been highlighted.On July 12 , 2005, the Supreme Court had struck down the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983, on the ground that it was unable to detect illegal migrants in Assam. Consequently the Foreigners’ Act, 1946, was made applicable in the state that put the onus of proof on the migrants, unlike in the IMDT Act. The apex court had also ordered constitution of 32 tribunals in the state for faster deposition of cases and transfer of all cases pending with the tribunals under the previous law.Subsequently, the government brought out the Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Order, 2006, last year making the process of detection of foreigners in Assam similar to the previous IMDT Act. The Supreme Court struck down the changes when challenged by AGP MP Sarbananda Sonowal and a BJP activist Charan Deka. While delivering the judgment, Justices S B Sinha and P K Balasubramanyan opined “the order of 2006, in our view, is clearly unnecessary in the light of the 1946 Act and the directions issued in Sonowal’s case. The 2006 order is, therefore, found to be unreasonable and issued in an arbitrary exercise of power, it requires to be quashed or declared invalid.” Explaining the rationale behind the move for a review petition, sources said there were a large number of illegal migrants who fled from Bangladesh due to communal riots and harassment that could not be ignored. These migrants may not have the valid documents necessary to prevent deportation.The ruling Congress in Assam is apprehensive that the tribunals could result in the harassment of genuine citizens. In the review petition, the Centre has also proposed evaluation of the list of documents needed to establish citizenship in the state.
