The Foreigners Tribunals operating in Assam have declared 1,43,466 people as foreigners so far and 329 of them were deported to their countries of origin, reported news agency PTI.

Union minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also said that a total of 1,21,598 have been declared as Indians by the Foreigners Tribunals, the report said.

The state government has informed that the total number of Foreigners Tribunals (FT) presently operating in Assam is 100. The total number of cases pending in these FTs as on December 31, 2021 is 1,23,829. The total number of people declared as foreigners as on December 31, 2021 is 1,43,466, the PTI report said.

The total number of people declared as Indian as on December 31, 2021 is 1,21,598. A total of 329 persons have been deported to their countries of origin as on February 1, 2022, he said in a written reply to a question.

Rai said the state government and Union Territory administrations were delegated the powers and functions to make necessary arrangements for detention centres or camps as per their requirement.

On December 13, 2021, the Gauhati High Court passed an important judgment in a case concerning the functioning of Assam’s “Foreigners Tribunals”.

The case involved an individual — Hasina Bhanu — who had been referred to the Foreigners Tribunal by the government, on the suspicion that she was not an Indian citizen. In August 2016, the tribunal found that she was, indeed, an Indian citizen, and issued an opinion in her favour.