Calcutta HC orders return of Bengali family deported to Bangladesh
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Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court directed the centre on Friday to bring back a family including a pregnant woman and two minors deported from Bengal to Bangladesh on suspicion of being illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
A division bench of Justices Reetobroto Kumar Mitra and Tapabrata Chakraborty told the Union government that the family was deported in haste and without considering Constitutional safeguards.
The Union government was directed to bring back the eight-month pregnant Sunali Khatun, her husband Danish Sekh, and their son within four weeks in coordination with the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.
It is reported citing Maktoob Media that the division bench did not mention repatriation of another family—Sweety Bibi and her two children who were detained in Delhi and then deported along with Sunali’s family.
Sonali’s father, Bodu Sekh claimed in a petition that his daughter and her family, who are Indian citizens residing permanently at Birbhum district, deported to Bangladesh two days after they were picked up in Delhi during an ‘ identity verification drive’ on June 24.
Justifying the deportation under the Foreigners Act, 1946, government lawyers told the court that Sunali and Danish admitted to being Bangladeshi nationals alongside arguing that they failed to produce valid documents and further added that the family had earlier withdrawn a petition after challenging the deportation in the Delhi High Court.
Dismissing their objections, the Calcutta High Court pointed out that the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Delhi had ignored the Ministry of Home Affairs’ May 2 memo that set 30-day verification process with the home state of the detainees before deporting them.
‘The respondents have acted in hot haste and have not adhered to the said memo, crippling the constitutional grant of fairness and reasonableness,’ the bench reportedly said.
The court pointed to the contradictions in the official records that claimed that Sunali entered India in 1998 while her Aadhaar and PAN cards confirmed her birth year as 2000.
The court made it clear, terming the deportation a violation of articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution, that even if they were not Indian citizens, authorities had to respect the principle of non-refoulement and procedural fairness.