Mon May 05 20:23:32 UTC 2025: ## India’s Detention of Stateless Persons Raises Constitutional Concerns

**NEW DELHI, May 6, 2025** – The indefinite detention of stateless individuals in India, particularly in Assam, is raising serious constitutional questions, according to a recent article in The Hindu. The article highlights the plight of over 159,353 people declared foreigners by Assam’s Foreigners’ Tribunals since 2017, with only 26 having been deported. Many of these individuals, stripped of citizenship through the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process, are held in detention camps for years, despite having lived their entire lives in India and lacking ties to any other nation.

The process of stripping citizenship, the article argues, was often unfair, relying on documentary proof of pre-1971 residency that is often inaccessible or rejected due to minor discrepancies. This arbitrary detention, the author contends, violates fundamental principles of Indian law, where deprivation of liberty is typically linked to criminal convictions or pre-trial detention under judicial supervision. Preventive detention, while permissible under Article 22 of the Constitution, is subject to limitations and safeguards, which are seemingly absent in this case.

The Supreme Court’s recent orders to initiate deportation without verifying addresses in the destination country are criticized as inadequate. The author points out the impossibility of deporting individuals who are stateless and have no other country willing to accept them. The current situation, the author concludes, amounts to detention for the sake of detention, a practice not recognized under Article 21, which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty.

Drawing parallels to a similar case in Australia, where indefinite detention of stateless individuals was deemed unlawful, the article emphasizes the threat to India’s rule of law posed by the executive and legislature encroaching upon the traditional judicial role of controlling the deprivation of liberty. The article concludes that the situation in Assam demands urgent attention to address the human rights violations and constitutional concerns.

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