NEW DELHI: Amid nationwide 21-day complete lockdown in view of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, an NGO on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking immediate release of more than 800 ‘declared foreigners’ lodged in Assam detention centres to prevent spread of deadly coronavirus among them.
In a letter written to Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, the NGO – ‘Justice and Liberty Initiative’ – said such ‘declared foreigners’ lodged in six detention centres in Assam should be released in terms of the Supreme Court’s May 10, 2019 order.
While demanding release of ‘declared foreigners’ on humanitarian ground, the NGO requested the Supreme Court to direct the Assam Government not to detain or arrest any more such persons “until the situation affected by COVID-19 returns to normalcy”.
“It is pertinent to mention that detention of ‘declared foreigners’ is not a sentence, detainees are detained to deport to their alleged country of origin,” it said, adding, many of them were old and ailing and 10 such detainees had died between March 1, 2019 and February 29, 2020.
The NGO welcomed the “bold step” taken by the Supreme Court to prevent Indian prisons from becoming breeding grounds for COVID-19 spread.
The Supreme Court had on Monday directed states and union territories to constitute a high-powered committee to consider granting parole or interim bail to convicts and undertrials to prevent the spread of coronavirus in jails.
Prisoners convicted of or charged with offences attracting maximum jail term up to seven years can be considered for this exercise aimed at de-congesting jails, it had said.
The NGO requested the top court to pass a similar order with regard to the “declared foreigners” lodged in detention centres in Assam.
“Being human beings they also have at least the basic right to live and to not die of COVID-19 in the precincts of a prison, which has despicable living conditions,” the NGO said.
In its May 10, 2019 order, the Supreme Court took note of the “perpetual detention” faced by these declared foreigners and directed the release of all those detained for three or more years subject to certain conditions. These persons were neither criminals nor a threat to the society, it had said.