Illegal immigrants cannot be immediately deported: Centre tells SC
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New Delhi: In cases of deportation of foreigners and illegal immigrants, repatriation could only be possible after their home countries verify their identities and provide them with travel documents, the Union government told the Supreme Court. The government said that they could not be immediately deported after serving their sentences without the mentioned processes being completed, The Wire reported.
The Ministry of Home Affairs told the Supreme Court on Thursday, “In case he/she does not have valid travel documents, it is necessary/mandatory to obtain requisite travel documents from the concerned country’s embassy/high commission through the process of nationality verification before he/she can be deported,” the Times of India quoted.
The top court bench of Justices AS Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan told the Centre last week that the lack of foreign addresses cannot be a reason for the delay in immigrants’ deportation to their home countries.
The court said, “Show us that without an address, you (the govt) cannot deport them. You cannot detain them indefinitely. If you know that they are from a particular country, then it is up to that country to decide where they should go. There is reluctance on your part.”
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, verification of nationality is a sovereign function of the foreign government, and no time limit can be fixed for the completion of the process, The Wire reported.