As the deadline set by the Calcutta High Court for the return of Sunali Khatun, a pregnant woman, and others from Bangladesh expired on Friday, family members are looking to restart their legal battle, highlighting “contempt of court” by the central government.

Sunali Khatun, her husband Danish, and their eight-year-old son, natives of Paikar village in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, were among a group of people accused of being infiltrators and pushed into Bangladesh on June 26 after being detained by the Delhi Police. The husband and wife had been working as ragpickers in Delhi for around 20 years. Once in Bangladesh, they were held by the local police, following which a local court declared them to be Indian citizens.

On September 26, a division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Ritabrata Kumar Mitra too had directed that six members of two families from Birbhum — including Sunali — be brought back to West Bengal within four weeks.

The bench, in its order, stated, “…the order of detention dated 24.06.2025 and the order of deportation dated 26.06.2025, so far as Sunali, Danish and (their son) are concerned, are set aside and respondent nos. l to 6, are mandatorily directed to take all steps to bring back Sunali, Danish and (their son) to India within a period of four weeks from the date of communication of the order.”

Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone from Birbhum, Sunali’s father Bhodu Sheikh said, “The four-week deadline expired on October 24. My pregnant daughter, her husband, and son is yet to be brought back home. We have no other way than to knock on the door of the Calcutta High Court and restart the legal battle. My wife and I will visit Kolkata on Monday.”

Suraj Sheikh, Sunali’s brother, said, “My sister, her husband, and son are in Bangladesh jail now, along with others. We do not know whether she is getting medical help. We don’t know how the family is doing. Despite the court order, nothing has happened so far. Even the Bangladesh court said they are Indian citizens.”

Raghunath Chakraborty, the family’s counsel, said they will plan the next course of action soon. “It is sad that nothing has been done so far despite the order of the Calcutta High Court. Sunali is pregnant. There are minors in the family now in Bangladesh. Along with Sunali, there is also Sweety Bibi and her two sons in Bangladesh,” he said.

Bibi, 32, and her sons, aged six and 16, residents of Dhitora village under Murarai police station limits in Birbhum, were also detained and deported at the same time as Sunali’s family. Both families had been picked up by the Delhi Police from within the limits KN Katju Marg police station. On August 21, they were arrested by the police in Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh, under the Passport Act and Foreigners Act, and sent to jail after being produced before a local court.

On October 3, however, the senior judicial magistrate of Sadar Court in Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh, declared the members of both families to be Indian citizens based on their Aadhaar cards and residential addresses in West Bengal, and directed their “pushback” to India. The order stated, “In this situation, for the matter of legal pushback to India and other official formalities, it is necessary to inform the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh.”

Criticising the Centre over inaction in the case, TMC Rajya Sabha MP and chairman of the West Bengal Migrant Welfare Board Samirul Islam, said, “See how the central government and the BJP treats Indian citizens. The unfortunate thing is that even after the court’s deadline, the Centre’s representatives have taken no initiative to bring them back. Under the instructions of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, we are with the family and providing all legal and other help possible.”

Islam added, “The court used one word in its order — ‘mandatory’. That means they must be returned. Besides, the Calcutta High Court, a Bangladesh court also found these people to be Indians and asked the Indian High Commission in Dhaka to arrange for their repatriation. There was no communication with the stranded people! Will these people not obey the court?”