The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the Centre, the Delhi government and the West Bengal government to file affidavits in connection with the arrest of a Bengali migrant family in the National Capital and their deportation to Bangladesh.
Hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the relatives of Sunali Khatun, a woman from Birbhum, who along with her husband and a minor son, were allegedly deported to Bangladesh by Delhi Police, the Division Bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra orally enquired from the Centre’s counsel if there was any truth in the allegations that Bengali-speaking people were being deported.
The Bench, however, did not issue any written order on it.
A habeas corpus petition is a legal remedy seeking direction to produce a person who is missing or has been illegally detained.
The relatives of the family from Birbhum, who worked as ragpickers, said Sunali, her husband Danish Sheikh, and their minor son, were detained by Delhi Police on June 18 from Rohini on suspicion of being illegal migrants from Bangladesh. According to a Delhi Police general diary, both the families said they were from Bagerhat, Bangladesh, following which they were handed over to the FRRO (Foreigners Regional Registration Office), and later deported to Bangladesh.
During the hearing, the counsel appearing for the Delhi Police told the court that the family of three was deported to Bangladesh last month, and sought dismissal of the habeas corpus petition, saying the matter was already pending in the Delhi High Court.
”The writ petition filed in the Delhi High Court was dismissed as they were deported to Bangladesh. Their relatives had filed a writ against the deportation… The matter is pending in the Delhi High Court. They have suppressed the facts in this court,” the counsel of Delhi Police told the Division Bench.
He said that after the Delhi High Court was informed that they had been deported on orders of the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer, the petitioners withdrew the habeas corpus application and filed a fresh petition there challenging the FRRO orders.
Expressing displeasure at the non-disclosure of these facts by the petitioners, the Division Bench asked the Centre to file an affidavit with all records and documents relating to the matter by July 28.
The petitioners will file a reply to it by August 4, and the matter will come up for hearing again on August 6, the court directed.
Additional Solicitor General Asok Kumar Chakrabarti, representing the Central government, argued that habeas corpus petition was not valid since “the order of deportation has been executed”.
Senior counsel Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for the West Bengal government, submitted that the Centre should file an affidavit on how many Bengalis were detained and pushed into Bangladesh.
“Who will decide (about detention)? The appropriate authority is not the police or constable. You cannot pick up someone just because they are speaking Bengali. There are procedures. These three-four cases are very alarming,” Banerjee told the High Court.
The court then verbally asked the Centre’s counsel if allegations of Bengali-speaking people being deported are true. “Why suddenly in June? There is an uproar in the state that Bengali speaking people are being deported,” the court remarked orally.
The ASG said that under the Foreigners Act, those without passports or visas would be deported.