HC seeks clarity from Centre on ‘deportation’ of migrant families

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has directed the Union government to disclose from where two migrant worker families, said to be residents of Birbhum, were deported to Bangladesh earlier this year.

A division bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Reetobrata Mitra asked the Centre to file an affidavit specifying the place where the detainees were “pushed back” and the designated location from which they were deported. The judges also dismissed the Centre’s contention that the High Court lacked jurisdiction, making it clear that the issue of maintainability would be heard along with the main case. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on September 23.

The case involves two families picked up by Delhi Police and allegedly declared Bangladeshi nationals without formal orders. Among them are Sonali Bibi, her husband Danish Sheikh and their eight-year-old child, detained in Delhi and reportedly sent across the border in June. Sonali, now eight months pregnant, has relatives in Bengal concerned about the citizenship of her unborn child. Her father, Bhodu Sheikh, has moved the court with a habeas corpus plea.

Another habeas corpus has been filed on behalf of Sweety Bibi, 32, and her two sons aged six and 16, who hail from Dhitora village in Birbhum. They too were detained in Delhi and allegedly pushed across the border at the same time.

Counsel for Bhodu Sheikh argued that no deportation order existed and the Delhi Police had unilaterally treated the families as foreigners, bypassing the requirement of consulting the state of permanent residence. Bengal’s counsel supported this, noting that documents proving residence had been shared with Delhi Police but elicited no response.

The Centre, however, told the court the petitions were mala fide, stressing that no valid identity documents such as Aadhaar or voter cards were produced to establish

Indian citizenship.