NEW DELHI, Feb 12 ? Taking a serious note of the unabated illegal infiltration from across the border, the Supreme Court today directed the Central and the State Governments of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and West Bengal to file a status report on the latest position within four weeks. What is significant is that the three-member Bench of Justice Rajendra Babu, Justice GP Mathur and Justice AR Laxman directed that the petition on IMDT Act pending before the apex Court be posted for final hearing. The hearing on the writ petition filed by Sarbananda Sonowal challenging the validity of the IMDT Act was segregated, and till now was heard separately.
However, it is likely to change with the apex Court?s order which came after Central Government?s counsel pleaded that the IMDT Repeal Bill tabled in the Lok Sabha is likely to lapse as the House has been dissolved. The Counsel for the Central Government during the course of the hearing remarked that all pending Bills including the Bill for repeal of the IMDT Act might not be taken up because of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
It may be recalled that hearing on the writ petition filed by Sonowal had reached final stage when the Bill for its repeal was tabled in the Parliament last May. In the wake of the development, the apex Court decided to await the outcome in the Parliament ordering a long adjournment till January this year.
However, after hearing the Centre?s counsel on the latest position that the Bill might lapse with the dissolution of the House, the Supreme Court posted it for final hearing.
Meanwhile, resuming the hearing on the petition filed by All India Lawyers Forum for Civil Liberty (AILFCL), the Supreme Court directed the Centre and the four infiltration affected States to file the status report on the latest position giving out in details the measures taken till today to check the menace. The Bench direction came after OP Saxena, counsel for the Lawyers Forum, said that when they had filed the petition in 1998 the estimated population of the illegal migrants was one crore but now their population has increased to two crore yet no steps have been taken to check the illegal infiltration.
The PIL filed by the AILFCL was the original petition that drew the attention the Supreme Court to the menace of the illegal infiltration and the threat it posed to security of the country. The case was later admitted for regular hearing in 200. The Lawyers forum was represented by Saxena, VK Manchanda and Shyam Sunder Sharma. Later Saxena talking to this newspaper said it was appalling that no seriousness was shown by the States to check the unabated flow of illegal migrant which were eating into the jobs, State?s resources besides threatening the law and order situation.
The Assam Government?s case is going to be interesting because the previous AGP regime while supporting the case, had even acknowledged that the illegal migrants were threat to internal security pointing to the possible involvement of ISI in exploiting the situation.
Since then the State Government has changed its stand and the present Congress Government had filed an application before the apex Court seeking permission to withdraw the State?s earlier petition. The present Government has opposed the move to repeal the IMDT Act. Since then, several petitioners including the Assam Congress party, United Minority Front (UMF), Jamiat-ulema-e-hind has joined the case. With elections round the corner and given the sensitivity of the case, the Supreme Court?s final verdict would have major impact on fortunes of three main contenders ? the Congress Party, BJP and AGP.