Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the State of Odisha to file an affidavit in response to a habeas corpus petition alleging illegal detention of a Bengali-speaking migrant labourer named Sainur Islam.
The petition was filed by the father of Sainur.
A division bench comprising Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra noted that in compliance with its earlier order dated July 10, 2025, the parties had furnished instructions and relevant documents. It was informed during the hearing that Sainur Islam had already been released and was currently residing with the petitioner.
The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the Sainur was illegally detained and that compensation should be granted. This contention was disputed by Advocate General (AG) of Odisha, Pitambar Acharya, who appeared via video conference. The court asked the Odisha AG: “Apprise us whether they were arrested, interrogated, or detained.”
The AG of Odisha submitted: “There has been no arrest. Law engrafted in the foreigner’s act 1946 authorises the civil authority to do certain things in terms of suspected persons whose citizenship is in doubt. A number of immigrants from various parts of the country were found and the ground of suspicion was strictly in conformity with Section 3 of the foreigners’ act. I submitted a status report earlier… I can file a detailed affidavit to bring facts on record. There has been no arrest, it was a lawful verification of the documents. It’s a frivolous petition. I will file a detailed affidavit in four weeks.”
After hearing submissions, the bench directed the State of Odisha to file their affidavit-in-opposition by August 20, 2025. The court allowed the petitioner to file a reply, if any, by August 27, 2025. The matter has been directed to be listed for further consideration on August 29, 2025, under the same heading in the daily supplementary list of the court.