By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Thursday voiced concern about foreigners languishing in two deportation camps here and asked the government to reveal their number and the reasons for their prolonged detention.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Manmohan asked the counsel for the government to provide details about the number of foreigners at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) camps and how long they had been interned.
“Though there is a substantial improvement in the situation, we want to know why these people are here and why can’t the government deport them?” asked the judges while fixing the date of next hearing as Sep 23.
“It is a shocking thing that some of the foreigners are here for past three years,” said the bench.
The court’s attention was first drawn to the deportation centres last year when 11 detainees wrote to the chief justice and sought his intervention.
The court converted the letter into a public interest litigation.
The letter complained about the perennial shortage of drinking water and the low quality of food served to the foreigners.
Earlier, the court pulled up the government for its lax attitude towards the foreigners and appointed senior advocate Arvind Nigam as amicus curiae, who then inspected the camps and found that they lacked even basic amenities.