The Supreme Court on Wednesday criticised the Assam government for failing to explain why foreign nationals were being held in detention centres in the state instead of being deported, reported The Times of India.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and N Kotiswar Singh was hearing a petition in connection with the deportation of 270 foreign nationals detained in the Matia transit camp in Assam’s Goalpara district, PTI reported.

The court said that it had granted the state government six weeks on December 9 to file an affidavit and had expected it to provide reasons for detaining the foreign nationals in the camp, along with details on the steps taken for their deportation.

However, the affidavit filed by the state government was defective, the bench said.

“The affidavit does not give any justification for detaining…steps taken to deport are not set out,” PTI quoted the bench as saying. “This is gross violation of orders of this court.”

The fundamental right to life applies not only to citizens but to everybody, including foreigners, the court said, adding that immediate action should be taken to deport the 270 persons to their countries, The Times of India reported.

The court also ordered the chief secretary to appear virtually at the next hearing with an explanation.

During the hearing, the counsel representing the state government told the court that the persons were detained only after they were declared foreigners by the foreigners tribunals. However, the bench asked why detentions were continuing without the deportation process even being initiated.

The counsel for the state government also told the court that the affidavit was confidential and should remain sealed, Live Law reported. In response, Oka asked the counsel to explain how the contents were sensitive.

The affidavit included the addresses of the foreigners, the counsel said.

“Assam counsel states that affidavit filed should be kept in sealed envelope, as contents thereof are confidential,” the bench said. “Though we are directing that it be kept in sealed enveloped, prima facie we disagree with the counsel that there is something confidential about the contents.”

The detention centre in Goalpara became operational in January 2023. It is the largest detention centre in India. As of September 18, it held 274 inmates.

At the last hearing on December 9, the court had directed the state government to file an affidavit on the names of the persons detained in the detention camp, the documents justifying their detention and the steps taken to deport them, Live Law reported.

On November 4, the court had said that the conditions at the Matia transit camp were “far from satisfactory” and directed the state government to improve the facilities within a month.

This came a month after it had directed the Assam Legal Services Authority to make surprise visits to inspect the living conditions of the refugees at the detention centre.

Most of the detainees – 102 Rohingya and 32 Chin – are refugees from Myanmar who had fled persecution.

On September 10, the court ordered the Assam government to submit a plan for the deportation of the foreigners. More than a hundred Rohingya and Chin refugees from Myanmar, including children and women, launched a hunger strike in the camp on September 9, Scroll reported.

The refugees, who have cards issued by the United Nations’ refugee agency, have been demanding that they be handed over to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, transferred to a detention centre in Delhi and have sought eventual resettlement in a third country.