SC agrees to hear plea over woman's 'illegal' detention in Assam

New Delhi, Jun 2 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a man's plea over his mother's purported illegal detention by Assam Police amid widespread allegations of deportations to Bangladesh.

Iunuch (Yunus) Ali, 26, sought immediate release of his mother Monowara Bewa, who was reportedly detained on May 24 after being called to Dhubri Police Station on the pretext of recording her statement.

The plea also sought a direction restraining the deportation or "push back" of the detainee across any Indian border.

The matter came up before a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Satish Chandra Sharma which agreed to hear it.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, said the woman had previously filed an special leave petition (SLP) in the apex court which is still pending and she was also granted bail but she was being "thrown out".

"We will list it along with the main case. We will hear it," the bench said.

Ali's plea, the bench said, would be heard along with the pending SLP.

The SLP challenges the decision of the Gauhati High Court, which upheld a Foreigners Tribunal ruling declaring Bewa a foreigner - a decision that has remained under challenge before the apex court since 2017.

When the bench said the plea would be heard along with the pending petition, Sibal said, "In the meantime, she is being thrown out." "Thrown out means?" the bench asked.

Sibal said she might be sent to Bangladesh and the petitioner was unaware of his mother whereabouts.

"Where is she, we don't know. At least ask them (authorities) to tell us that. The son does not know," he argued.

The petitioner raised concerns over the practice in Assam of allegedly detaining and deporting persons to Bangladesh overnight, even when their legal cases were pending.

Bewa was on bail since December 12, 2019, following a Supreme Court order which allowed the conditional release of detainees who spent more than three years in Assam's foreigner detention camps. PTI ABA ABA AMK AMK