HC seeks affidavits on ‘illegal detention & deportation’ of Bengal migrant workers

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday called for affidavits from the Bengal government, the Union government and the Delhi government in a habeas corpus petition related to the alleged arrest and deportation to Bangladesh of a Bengali-speaking family from Birbhum district.

The petition was filed by relatives of the affected persons. A division bench comprising Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra issued the direction after being informed that similar proceedings were already pending before the Delhi High Court—a development that had not been disclosed in the present plea.

Counsel for the petitioners submitted that after the petition was filed, other relatives of the petitioner were also rounded up by the Delhi Police but were subsequently released.

The counsel appearing for the Union government and Delhi Police, submitted that parallel proceedings on similar facts had been initiated in Delhi and that this had not been revealed in the current pleadings. The court expressed displeasure and censured the petitioner’s advocate for the omission. Senior counsel appearing for the state of West Bengal submitted that the matter involved the question of whether the persons concerned were citizens of India. He urged the court to seek data through affidavits on how many Bengali-speaking persons had been detained and how many had been deported. While the Union government’s counsel suggested that the case be dismissed on grounds of multiplicity, the bench called for affidavits from all parties to examine the issue further.

After the order was dictated, senior counsel for the state remarked: “Who will decide (to detain)? 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 or four cases are very alarming.” In response, a counsel for the Union government said: “After the Pahalgam attack, people in Kashmir were also rounded up, and everyone was released. People speaking Bengali were not picked up and deported. Hundreds were rounded up, but most were released.”

The matter was adjourned for further hearing. 

In an earlier hearing, the court had directed the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Delhi administration to clarify the status of six Bengali-speaking individuals from Bengal who were allegedly detained in New Delhi and then deported to Bangladesh.

One petitioner sought the release of his son-in-law Danish Sekh, daughter Sunali Khatun and minor grandson Sabir Sekh. The other sought the release of Kurban Sheikh, his wife Sweety Bibi, and their minor son Imam Dewan. In both cases, it was alleged that the individuals were detained beyond 24 hours without being produced before a magistrate.