Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday reserved its order in the case of eight-month-pregnant Sonali Khatun, who was deported to Bangladesh along with her husband and minor son in June.
The matter was heard by the division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra, on both maintainability and merit.
Khatun and her family were sent across the border on June 26 after Delhi Police detained them on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals.
Her father, Bodhu Sheikh, subsequently moved the court seeking her return, alleging that the deportation was unlawful.
The Centre questioned the court’s jurisdiction, pointing out that the deportation took place in Delhi and petitions had already been filed before the Delhi High Court.
Delhi Police counsel told the bench that Bangladesh has not yet denied the deportees’ citizenship. He maintained that Khatun and her family were accepted across the border and rejected suggestions that they were Indian nationals.
He reportedly also distinguished the case from earlier instances where suspected Bangladeshis were allowed to return, saying those individuals had never been deported.
Khatun’s counsel reportedly argued otherwise, producing voter identity documents and land deeds of her family in Birbhum to establish her Indian citizenship.
The petition also annexed her son’s birth certificate.
After a detailed hearing, the bench reserved its verdict for Friday, while raising the question of whether it was at all possible to bring back those already deported.