GUWAHATI, July 2: The All BTC Minority Students Association has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in Gauhati High Court against the Assam government’s policy to “push back” alleged illegal immigrants across the country’s border.
The students’ association has urged the High Court to declare the ‘pushback policy’ unconstitutional as they claim it violates Articles 14, 21 and 22 of the Constitution.
The petition challenges the introduction of the “pushback” policy in Assam 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 PIL claims that the policy has been adopted by the state government in an arbitrary manner, flouting the due process of law.
“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 stated.
During a recent hearing, a division bench of Gauhati High Court was recently informed by the counsel appearing for the petitioner that he had received details of persons who were picked up and subjected to the push-back policy adopted by the state government.
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 would file an additional affidavit furnishing the details of the persons.
The petition also claims that the policy deprives individuals from contesting their deportation and taking legal recourse by approaching the foreigner’s tribunal.
On the other hand, Advocate General D. Saikia raised an issue of maintainability of the PIL. Subsequently, as sought for and agreed to by the counsel for the parties, the case was listed on July 22, 2025.
