Guwahati, May 30 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday asserted that the detection of foreigners in the state will be expedited and action against the Declared Foreign Nationals (DFNs) will be taken as per the law.
The course open to those who have been declared foreigners by the Foreigners Tribunal is to appeal before the Gauhati High Court, Sarma said at a press conference.
"We have not taken action against those who have stated that they have appeals pending before the Supreme Court or the High Court, but those who have not appealed in the higher judiciary will be pushed back," the chief minister said.
He said that it was decided to expedite the detection of foreigners in the state during a recent meeting of superintendents of police.
"The detection of foreigners was temporarily suspended due to the updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state but now we have decided to speed up the process," he said.
A few days ago, 35 Bangladesh nationals had entered India through the international border in Meghalaya and Assam's Silchar and "they have been pushed back", he said.
The chief minister pointed out that if a person declared a foreign national by the tribunal does not challenge it in the court, then their "right to stay in Assam is forfeited".
"It is all about the judicial process and we are working as per the law. If the judiciary has given a stay order, we respect it but if there is no order, they will be pushed back," he added.
The Supreme Court had earlier given the directive that those who have been declared foreigners should be deported, he said.
Referring to the case of a former school teacher who claimed that his case was pending before the Supreme Court, Sarma said that if there is a pending case, they will have to produce the order before the police and "those who have the court order have been allowed to stay".
"The process will include detection of foreigners, their push back and in some cases the Centre will discuss with the Bangladesh government to deport them," Sarma added.
He claimed that 30,000 people have disappeared after being declared foreigners but "if we find them somewhere, we will have to take action".
The Gauhati High Court issued a notice to the Assam government on Thursday directing it to provide details on the whereabouts of two brothers, declared foreigners by the Foreigners Tribunal, and on the "arbitrary arrest of declared foreigners who are apprehending illegal push back".
Several people have been picked up from different parts of the state on suspicion of being Bangladeshis by the Assam Border Police since last week.