Supreme Court Orders Release of Foreigners in Assam Detained for 2 Years amid Coronavirus

Guwahati, April 14, 2020:

The Supreme Court has directed the release of the detainees in Assam who were declared foreigners and have been lodged in detention centres for two or more years. The apex court has also lowered the personal bond amount from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5,000.

"Having regard to the present circumstances prevailing in the country and having regard to the fact that we have already permitted the release of prisoners and people under detention in general, and such detainees who have completed three years upon their declaration as foreigners, we see no reason why the period should not be reduced from

three years to two years, that is to say, the prisoners or detainees who have been under detention for two years shall be entitled to be released...," stated the bench of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices L.N. Rao and M Shantanagoudar.

The order further that the detainees would be released on the same terms and conditions as those laid down in the aforesaid order dated 10.05.2019, except that they shall not be

required to furnish a bond in the sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh only). Instead, they shall be required to furnish a bond in the sum of Rs.5,000/- (Rupees five thousand only) with two sureties of the like sum of Indian citizens.

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It may be mentioned here that the Supreme Court order to release the detainees in Assam came after it received an application by Justice for Liberty Initiative, an Assam based Public Charitable Trust. In its application, it had sought the release of the detainees lodged in six Assam detention centres in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

The NGO, Justice and Liberty Initiative, had sought intervention in the matter where Suo Motu cognizance was taken by the Supreme Court in an attempt to decongest jails by asking authorities to consider releasing specific categories of prisoners on interim bail in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

The application has highlighted that on May 10, 2019, the apex Court had passed an order allowing the release of all detenus who have spent more than 3 years in detention, subject to execution of bonds.

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Bringing the peril to the lives of the detenus to the notice of the court, the applicant wrote, “These camps are like ticking ‘time bombs’ ready to explode any time. In absence of any quarantine facility inside those camps, detenues are at great risk in the event of its outbreak.”

Now, stating the condition in the jails is “deplorable” as each person has “only 2-3 square feet space”, the application says “it would only be fair and just that this Hon’ble

Court in its magnanimity directs the release of such detenues by dispensing with the condition of financial surety, minimum period of detention etc., as may be expedient and necessary in the peculiar facts of the case due to the spread of the contagious and deadly COVID 19.”

It needs mention here that during the hearing of the Supreme Court order, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, objected to their release apprehending that they would infect people in villages or where ever they go after their release.

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However, the bench observed that the decision was taken to prevent these prisons and detention centres from becoming a hotspot of coronavirus infection.

It needs mention here that in the 6 detention camps in Assam, as many as 802 inmates are being kept, which has been confirmed by Union Minister Nityanand Rai in the Parliament.

Moreover, several have died in the Assam detention camps over the years. Last year alone, 10 detainees died in the camps. Since 2016, 29 people have died in the camps.

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