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New Delhi, Jul 18: The Supreme Court has provided the Assam government with a two-week period to submit its responses regarding petitions that contest the classification of five women as foreigners, who are accused of having entered the state unlawfully.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued this order after the Assam government's representative requested additional time to prepare counter-affidavits for the five cases.

"As requested, the counsel for the respondent - State of Assam is granted two weeks to file vakalatnama and counter affidavit(s) in all cases. The matter will be listed again in two weeks," the bench stated in its order dated July 16.

During the proceedings on Thursday, an attorney representing one of the petitioners referenced a July 13 ruling from the Supreme Court, which emphasized that citizenship determinations must follow a fair, lawful, and reasoned approach.

Another attorney, representing some petitioners, noted that two of the women are currently detained, and the Supreme Court has halted their deportation, maintaining the status quo.

The Assam government's counsel requested two weeks to prepare their responses, which the bench approved.

Previously, on June 5, the Supreme Court had ordered that the deportation of the petitioners be paused while agreeing to hear their challenges against separate orders from the Gauhati High Court.

The Gauhati High Court had earlier dismissed the petitions from the applicants seeking to overturn the Foreigners Tribunals' decisions that labeled them as foreigners or illegal migrants who had entered India from Bangladesh.

In its July 13 ruling concerning a series of appeals linked to the proceedings before the Foreigners Tribunals in Assam and the former Illegal Migrants (Determination) Tribunals, the Supreme Court overturned the high court's judgments that upheld the declarations of certain individuals as foreigners.

The apex court instructed the relevant tribunals to reassess the references without being influenced by any previous comments from the high court or the tribunals.

It asserted that the State has a valid and pressing interest in ensuring that individuals not legally entitled to Indian citizenship do not obtain such status through misuse of the legal process, false claims, or by exploiting procedural delays.

“Simultaneously, the determination of such status must be conducted through a process that is fair, lawful, and reasoned," the Supreme Court emphasized.