PIL In Gauhati High Court Challenges Assam Govt's 'Push-Back Policy' For Allegedly Deporting Suspected Illegal Immigrants
Saahas Arora
1 July 2025 11:23 AM IST
Picture by Sadiq Naqvi
A Public Interest Litigation has been filed by a student's association in the Gauhati High Court seeking that the “push-back” policy adopted by Assam Government with respect to alleged illegal immigrants, be declared as unconstitutional, being violative of Article(s) 14, 21 and 22 of the Constitution.
When the matter was taken up on June 27, a division bench of Justice Manish Choudhury and Justice Mitali Thakuria was informed by the counsel appearing for the petitioner–ALL BTC Minority Students Association, that he had received the detailed particulars of persons who were picked up and subjected to the push-back policy adopted by the State.
It was further submitted that these persons were earlier on Indian soil, but, after being picked up, their whereabouts were not known. The counsel submitted that he shall file an additional affidavit furnishing the details of those persons. On the other hand, the respondent State questioned the maintainability of the PIL.
"As sought for and agreed to by the learned counsel for the parties, list the case on 22.07.2025," the court said in its order.
Notably, the petitioner association had moved the Supreme Court as well, however had withdrawn its plea after the Supreme Court expressed its inclination to dismiss the case.
Background
The plea challenges the introduction of the “push-back” policy in Assam by the State wherein individuals are allegedly picked up on the basis of suspicion and are claimed to be pushed back across the border without "following the due process of law". The plea claims that the policy has been adopted by the State of Assam in an arbitrary manner, flouting the due process of law violates Article 14, 21 of the Constitution of India as well as other domestic and International laws.
The petition claims that the policy deprives individuals from contesting their deportation and taking legal recourse by approaching the Foreigners Tribunal. This was alleged to be violative of Articles 14, 21 and 22 of the Constitution. The PIL stated,
"Deportation without notice, adjudication or opportunity to appeal constitutes a grave violation of constitutional due process. It is unfortunate that despite having a number of legislations regarding deportation, the State of Assam has undertaken an arbitrary policy of 'push back', which is bereft of the principles of natural justice.”
The PIL also stated that there was an absence of judicial oversight over the push-back policy as the operations were being undertaken without adjudication of the Foreigners Tribunal, thereby, violating the mandate of the Foreigners Act, 1946—which prescribes that no person can be deemed a foreigner except through a reasoned declaration by the Foreigners Tribunal.
Additionally, the PIL refers to Supreme Court's decision in Sarbananda Sonowal v. Union of India (2005), where the apex court emphasised on the need to adhere to due process of law in identifying and deporting foreign nationals, underscoring that any departure from due process would risk wrongful deprivation of citizenship, particularly for vulnerable groups.
The plea claims that the policy was alleged to have no legal backing and aligned neither with domestic law nor international law. It was highlighted that the State had intensified the push-back drive pursuant to the Supreme Court's order in Rajubala Das v. Union of India dated 04.02.2025, where it had directed the State to deport only 63 individuals who were declared foreigners with known nationalities.
It claims that the State, had misinterpreted the Supreme Court's order, and was allegedly using this as a “blanket authorisation” to initiate push back against suspected individuals beyond the list of the 63 deportees whose citizenship/nationalities were sub-judice.
The petition claims that the Assam Border Police had arrested over 50 individuals from various districts and transported them to the Matia detention camp in Goalpara. The plea claims that these persons were handed over to the Border Security Force, which allegedly forcibly pushed them into no-man's land along the Mankachar border with Bangladesh, often during the night hours.
Against this backdrop, the plea claims that when a person has already entered into India, BSF cannot push them back without an order of deportation by a competent civil authority or court.
The plea refers to multiple news reports to state that various individuals including a government school teacher have been deported, which suggests a "pattern of illegal detention and cross border expulsion without legal process".
Case Title: ALL BTC Minority Students Association v The Union of India