The central government will implement in 'letter and spirit', the Supreme Court order to scrap the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, Home Minister Shivraj Patil assured the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

"I have no hesitation in saying that the SC directive will be implemented in letter and spirit. We will like to implement the SC judgement in full spirit," he said, responding to supplementaries during Question Hour.

What is the Illegal Migrants Act?

Patil said if there was any genuine difficulty faced by anyone, it would be looked into. The home minister said the government had decided to appoint a group of ministers to study the implications of the apex court order and hear all opinions on questions of detection and deportation of illegal migrants.

A notification had been issued that tribunals and appellate tribunals, constituted under the Act, shall cease to function with effect from July 12, 2005, he added.

The home minister said under the Foreigners Act, the state government had been given the right to search for illegal immigrants. He said it was clear that foreigners coming here for employment without the permission of the government of India were illegal migrants.