IMDT Act may be scrapped

NEW DELHI, August 30: In a significant development, the Centre today formally clarified its stand on the controversial Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, notifying the Supreme Court that it is actively considering to scrap the Act, as it was hampering in detection and deportation of illegal aliens, overriding the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946. The central government's stand was made known to the Apex Court through the counsels for the ministry of home affairs in a case relating to a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking deportation of foreigners, even as the Assam and West Bengal governments were given two weeks time to file their replies. The PIL filed by All India Lawyers Forum for Civil Liberty has sought Supreme Court's direction to the Union government to detect and deport over 10 million illegal Bangladeshi migrants living in various parts of the country particularly in West Bengal and the Northeast. The case was heard in the court of the Chief Justice, AS Anand, who headed a three-member bench comprising Justice M Srinivasan and Justice R C Lahoty.