Supreme Court tells Centre to submit information on detention centres in Assam, foreigners detained there in past decade

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to provide it various details on the number of functional detention centres in Assam and the number of foreigners detained there in the past 10 years. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna was hearing a petition filed by activist Harsh Mander on the condition of detention centres in Assam and the prolonged detention of foreigners there. [caption id=“attachment_5184721” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The apex court asked the Centre to provide various details about the detention centres, the period of detention of detainees and the status of their cases before the foreigners’ tribunal. “We would like to know as to how many detention centres are there. We also want to know how many persons are lodged there and since when,” the bench said. The bench also asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to provide details of how many persons had been declared foreigners so far and how many of them had been deported till date. The court sought year-wise details of foreigners who had illegally entered India in the past 10 years. The Supreme Court, which has sought details within three weeks form the authority, has posted the matter for further hearing on 19 February.