High Court to hear pleas on ‘illegal detention’ of migrant workers

Update: 2025-07-14 18:41 GMT

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday said it would take up on July 16 two sets of habeas corpus petitions alleging illegal detention of migrant workers from Bengal in Odisha and Delhi.

The court was hearing separate pleas filed by the families of two migrant workers—Sainur Islam and Rakibul Islam—who were reportedly detained by the Odisha Police in the Jagatsinghpur district. However, during the proceedings, the court was verbally informed by a lawyer that the two had since returned to their homes.

A division bench comprising Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra took note of the submission and said the matter would be heard on Wednesday, along with similar petitions relating to workers allegedly detained in Delhi. The bench, during the hearing, asked the counsel appearing virtually for the petitioners to limit his arguments to the individual cases mentioned in the petitions. The court made this direction after the lawyer claimed that more migrant workers from Bengal were facing detention in Odisha. The High Court had earlier, on July 11, asked the Odisha government to submit relevant records indicating whether the two workers were actually detained or missing. The court had also directed the Bengal Chief Secretary to coordinate with his counterpart in Odisha to ensure compliance with its order and to place all necessary documents before the court on the next hearing date.

In a related matter taken up last week, the court had directed the Delhi administration to clarify whether a group of migrant workers from Bengal, whose relatives had filed habeas corpus petitions, were being held under detention.

A habeas corpus petition is a constitutional remedy available to seek production of a person believed to be unlawfully detained or missing. The petitions have been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution, which empowers High Courts to issue certain writs, including habeas corpus.

The cases will now be jointly heard by the division bench on July 16.

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