Guwahati. The BJP government of Assam has empowered the commissioners (DMs) of the districts under the Migrants (Assam’s expulsion) Act 1950 to ask suspected intruders in the state to provide evidence to prove India’s citizenship in 10 days. Failure to do so will be kept in the detention center considering the concerned as an intruder. After which such people will be sent back to their country. Assam CM Himant Bisw Sarma gave this information to the media after the cabinet meeting. He said that the state government has decided to give rights to the district commissioners bypassing the existing SOP.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the District Commissioner will now give 10 days of defense to the suspected foreigners to give evidence to prove himself a citizen of India. The District Commissioner will be able to issue order for those who do not give evidence in this deadline. So far, the case of suspected foreigners has been brought to the Foreign Tribunal. Under the new SOP, now the District Deputy Commissioner of Assam has been deserved to take the final decision. In June itself, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that the Migrants (Abuse from Assam) Act 1950 will be implemented in the state. He had talked about implementing this act on the basis of a decision of the Supreme Court Bench in October 2024.
The bench of the Supreme Court retained the constitutionality of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act. Under which, admission in Assam was legalized by 24 March 1971 for anyone. After this date, it was said to consider those who entered Assam as illegal immigrants. With the latest decision, the Foreign Tribunal will no longer go to cases of illegal intruders. Assam’s Himant Bisw Sarma Sarkar has decided to implement the new SOP of the 1950s, which was passed by the government of Jawaharlal Nehru under pressure from the then government of Assam. Under the Act, there is a provision to remove the intruders from Assam or India in the deadline fixed. The Act passed on 1 March 1950, but a month later, the implementation of this law was banned due to the agreement between Liaquat Ali Khan and Nehru.
