The Supreme Court on Friday voiced concern about the substandard living conditions at the detention centre in Assam’s Matial, which holds individuals labelled as “foreigners” by state foreign tribunals and awaiting deportation.

“We find that the facilities are very poor. There is no adequate water supply. No proper sanitation, no proper toilets. The report does not mention the availability of food and medical facilities.

“We direct the secretary of state legal services authority to ensure one more visit is made with the view to find out not only the facilities which are mentioned in the report but also ascertain the quality and quantity of food served, the cleanliness in the kitchen,” a bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Augustine Masih said in an order.

The bench passed the order after perusing a report from the secretary of Assam Legal Services Authority regarding the detention centre in Matial, which it had undertaken under an earlier order passed by the court.

In an earlier order passed on May 16, the apex court had directed the Centre to forthwith deport 17 foreign nationals detained in the transit camps of Assam, four of whom were detained for more than two years. The earlier bench of Justice Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan had said that since the foreign nationals were not wanted in any cases in India there should not be any difficulty in deporting them to their respective countries.

The court had wanted the Assam Legal Services Authority committee to examine the conditions and facilities provided to the inmates at the centres. The bench passed the directions while dealing with the conditions prevalent at the centres as raised in a petition filed by one Rajubala Das.

Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves apprised the court about the pathetic condition at the centres.