31,789 illegal immigrants deported from Assam in 40 years: CM
The state government informed the Assam Legislative Assembly that 31,789 illegal immigrants have been deported from Assam over the past 40 years.
Cases against 73,750 other individuals are currently pending before various Foreigners' Tribunals in the state.
The disclosure highlights the continuing gap between the scale of persons flagged as suspected illegal migrants and the number actually deported, reflecting long-standing institutional and diplomatic constraints on deportation.
The statement was made in the context of Assam's decades-long framework for detecting and adjudicating the citizenship status of suspected illegal migrants.
Foreigners' Tribunals — Legal Basis and Function
Foreigners' Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies that determine whether a person suspected of being a foreigner is, in fact, a foreigner or an Indian citizen. They are Assam's principal mechanism for adjudicating citizenship disputes and were constituted under the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, issued by the Central Government under Section 3 of the Foreigners Act, 1946.
Key Details
- Established under: Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, framed under Section 3 of the Foreigners Act, 1946
- Tribunals are headed by legal members (often retired judicial officers) and operate independently of ordinary criminal courts
- The burden of proof in Foreigners' Tribunal proceedings falls on the individual to prove their citizenship, distinguishing this process from ordinary criminal law where the burden lies on the prosecution
- Persons declared "foreigners" by a Tribunal can face detention (in designated centres) pending deportation, though actual deportation is often stalled for want of a repatriation mechanism with the country of origin
The 73,750 pending cases represent the current backlog before these Tribunals, illustrating the scale of unresolved citizenship determinations in the state.
Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 and Sarbananda Sonowal v. Union of India (2005)
Before the current Foreigners' Tribunal framework, Assam-specific detection of illegal migrants was governed by the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 (IMDT Act), which — unlike the Foreigners Act elsewhere in India — placed the burden of proving foreigner status on the accuser rather than the accused. The Supreme Court struck down the IMDT Act as unconstitutional in Sarbananda Sonowal v. Union of India (2005) 5 SCC 665, holding that its accuser-burden framework made detection of illegal migrants in Assam practically unworkable and violated Article 14, extending the ordinary Foreigners Act, 1946 framework to Assam instead.
Key Details
- IMDT Act enacted: 1983; applicable only to Assam
- Struck down by the Supreme Court: July 12, 2005, in Sarbananda Sonowal v. Union of India
- The Court held the reverse burden of proof under the IMDT Act frustrated the constitutional objective of identifying and expelling illegal migrants, and examined the issue partly through the lens of Article 355 (Union's duty to protect states against internal disturbance)
- Following the verdict, migrant detection in Assam reverted to the Foreigners Act, 1946 framework administered through Foreigners' Tribunals
The current Tribunal-based mechanism generating the 73,750-case backlog is a direct legal consequence of the IMDT Act's invalidation in 2005.
Assam Accord, 1985 and Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955
The Assam Accord (1985) ended a six-year agitation against illegal migration into Assam and set out categories of migrants based on their date of entry. Section 6A was inserted into the Citizenship Act, 1955 to give the Accord legal effect, using March 25, 1971 (the eve of the Bangladesh Liberation War) as the cut-off date distinguishing Indian citizens from illegal migrants in Assam.
Key Details
- Assam Accord signed: 1985; implemented via Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955
- Migrants who entered before January 1, 1966: treated as citizens
- Migrants who entered between January 1, 1966 and March 24, 1971: treated as citizens but denied voting rights for 10 years from detection
- Migrants who entered on or after March 25, 1971: treated as illegal migrants liable to detection and expulsion
- Section 6A's constitutional validity was upheld by a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in October 2024, by a 4:1 majority (Chief Justice-led bench; Justice J.B. Pardiwala dissenting)
Deportation and pending-case figures reported to the Assembly are outcomes of adjudication under this Section 6A/Foreigners' Tribunal framework specific to Assam.
National Register of Citizens (NRC), Assam — 2019 Update
The Supreme Court-monitored update of Assam's NRC, last prepared in 1951, was undertaken to identify Indian citizens residing in the state as of the March 25, 1971 cut-off, cross-referencing Section 6A's categories. The final NRC list was published on August 31, 2019.
Key Details
- Supreme Court directed the NRC update: 2013; final list published: August 31, 2019
- Of approximately 3.3 crore applicants, around 19 lakh were excluded from the final list
- Persons excluded from the NRC are not automatically declared foreigners; they may appeal before Foreigners' Tribunals
- The NRC process and Foreigners' Tribunal adjudications operate as linked but procedurally distinct stages of citizenship determination in Assam
Individuals excluded from the 2019 NRC list form part of the pool of cases that may eventually be adjudicated by Foreigners' Tribunals, feeding into figures such as the 73,750 pending cases.
- Illegal immigrants deported from Assam over 40 years: 31,789
- Cases pending before Foreigners' Tribunals: 73,750
- Foreigners' Tribunals established: 1964, under the Foreigners Act, 1946 (Section 3)
- IMDT Act, 1983 struck down: July 12, 2005 (Sarbananda Sonowal v. Union of India)
- Assam Accord signed: 1985; Section 6A cut-off date: March 25, 1971
- Section 6A upheld by Supreme Court Constitution Bench: October 2024 (4:1 majority)
- Final Assam NRC list published: August 31, 2019; ~19 lakh of ~3.3 crore applicants excluded