No special order issued to drop cases of no-Muslims from Foreigners Tribunals: Assam CM Himanta

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the state government has not issued any "special" directive to drop cases of non-Muslim illegal foreigners entering before 2015 from the Foreigners Tribunals as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act protects them from any punitive action.

"The state government has not issued any direction, except what has been already there in the CAA. If there is any cabinet decision, I always come and share with you. No special decision has been taken," Sarma said at a press conference after a cabinet meeting here.

He, however, said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act provides security and protection to people who had entered into India on or before December 31, 2014.

"That is the law. The case is in the Supreme Court. Unless SC strikes it down, that is the law of the land. For that, no special decision is required," Sarma said.

He further said that the state cabinet had taken two decisions regarding dropping of cases from the FTs -- one was for the Koch-Rajbongshi community and the other one was related to the Gorkha people.

The Assam government has instructed all districts to drop ongoing cases of suspected non-Muslim illegal foreigners entering the state before 2015 from the Foreigners Tribunals following the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

According to a directive, which PTI has accessed, signed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Political) Ajay Tewari on July 22, all District Commissioners and Senior Superintendents of Police have been asked to review the status of foreigners like Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.

It also suggested that all such foreigners should be encouraged and supported for applying for Indian citizenship as per the provisions of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

As per legal provisions, only the FTs can declare a person a foreigner in Assam, and subsequently, higher courts can be approached if the verdict is not favourable.

In July last year, the Assam government had asked its Border Police wing not to forward the cases of non-Muslim illegal immigrants entering the state before 2015 to Foreigners Tribunals and instead advise them to apply for citizenship through CAA.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis entering India on or before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after five years of residence.