The Cabinet on Tuesday night decided to repeal the contentious Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983.

The IMDT Act was termed discriminatory because it was made applicable only in Assam, while the Foreigners Act, 1946, was applicable to the rest of the country, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said after a Cabinet meeting in New Delhi.

Repealing the IMDT Act will enable the government to accelerate the detection and deportation of migrants who entered Assam on or after March 25, 1971, she said.

An explanation may be added to Section 2 of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, to the effect that the proviso shall not be applicable to any person who, on or after March 25, 1971, has migrated to India from any area forming part of Bangladesh, she said.

The Cabinet approved a draft bill for repealing the act from a date to be notified and the repealing measure will be introduced during the current session of Parliament, she added.

She said former Assam chief minister P K Mohanta had raised the issue of withdrawal of the act. The then governor of the state, in a special report in 1998, had echoed his thoughts, she added.

Under the repealing legislation, all cases that have been referred to or are under consideration of the IMD Tribunals may be tried afresh under the provisions of the Foreigners Act, Swaraj said.

Appeals pending before the IMD Appellate Tribunal against the orders of the IMD Tribunals will continue till these are disposed off. The high court may be empowered to review the decisions of the Appellate Tribunal by way of revision.

Swaraj, however, made it clear that such a central legislation would not be binding on the states.