Supreme Court's Rap For "Sorry State" Of Foreigners Detention Centre In Assam

The Supreme Court on Friday flagged the "sorry state" of a detention centre in Assam that house individuals whose citizenship is unclear and foreigners waiting to be deported. The court said it was troubled by the lack of water and sanitation facilities, and non-functioning toilets.

A bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice AG Masih referred to a report by the Secretary of the Assam Legal Services Authority, about a detention centre in Matia in Goalpara district.

"There are no proper toilets... no medical facilities. What are you managing?" the court asked.

"We find the facilities are very poor... there is no adequate water supply, there is no sanitation system (or) proper toilets. The report does not speak about and medical health."

The court directed the Law Authority to ensure a follow-up visit to establish not only under-par facilities as mentioned in the report but also quantity and quality of food and kitchen hygiene.

A report is to be submitted within three weeks.

According to the petitioner, the Matia detention centre holds 3,000 people.

The centre, meanwhile, is to respond on the issue of deportation within the same time.

The court had earlier told the centre to deport 17 declared foreigners presently held in detention camps across the northeastern state. Four of the foreigners have been held for two years.

It was in this context the court had directed the Assam Legal Services Authority to visit the detention camp.