The Supreme Court’s vacation bench on Monday declined to entertain a plea challenging the Assam government’s alleged “push back” policy to detain and deport suspected foreigners without verifying their nationality or exhausting legal remedies.”We are not inclined to hear it. Sorry. Why are you not going to the Gauhati High Court?”, the two-judge vacation bench of the top court, headed by Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma told the lawyer, Sanjay Hegde, appearing for the petitioner, All BTC Minority Students Union (ABMSU), to knock the doors of the HC for relief.Hegde told the top court that the plea was based and filed here on an order passed by the apex court earlier. When the court did not incline to pass any order on the plea, Hegde said the petitioner would like to withdraw the plea to take and ensure appropriate recourse before the high court.Allowing his request, the bench directed him to withdraw the plea.The plea has been filed in the Supreme Court on Saturday challenging the Assam government’s reportedly launched “push back” policy of a “sweeping and indiscriminate drive” to detain and deport persons suspected to be foreigners without nationality verification or exhaustion of legal remedies. “The ‘push back’ policy, as implemented (by Assam govt) violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution by deporting individuals without due process, thereby denying them the opportunity to contest their deportation and infringing upon their right to life and personal liberty,” the plea of ABMSU claimed.This policy of “push back” – being executed in border districts like Dhubri, South Salmara and Goalpara – was not only legally indefensible but also threatens to render stateless numerous Indian citizens, especially those from poor and marginalised communities who were either declared foreigners ex-parte or have no access to legal aid to challenge their status, the plea claimed.
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