Centre should bring back persons deported to Bangladesh for hearing on nationality: Supreme Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday verbally observed that the Union government should bring back residents of West Bengal who have been deported to Bangladesh on suspicion of being foreigners, as an interim measure, to allow them to plead their case regarding their nationality.
The top court emphasised that individuals who claim to be Indian citizens have the right to present their case, supported by documents, before the authorities. It urged the Union government to temporarily return the deported individuals so they can be heard and allow verification of the authenticity of their documents.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made the suggestion during a hearing, addressing a counsel representing the Union. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Sanjay Hegde appeared on behalf of the petitioners.
While acknowledging the justification for deporting an “illegal entrant” from Bangladesh, CJI Kant remarked, “If somebody has something to show you, that wait I belong to India, I am born and brought up here, and I am actually an Indian national, he has a right to plead before you.”
He also noted that there was substantial material on record, such as birth certificates and land holdings of close family members, that could serve as evidence of nationality. He pointed out that earlier, there had been inadequate inquiries before deportation.
“The allegation is that the deportee was never heard and you sent them. Why don't you, at least as a temporary measure, bring them back, give them an opportunity of hearing, verify all these documents or facts and take a holistic view," Live Law quoted the Chief Justice as saying.
The bench gave the counsel representing the Union government time until December 1 to receive instructions from the Centre on the matter.
Since May, thousands of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party have reportedly been rounded up and asked to prove their Indian citizenship, with some being declared foreigners and forcibly deported to Bangladesh, despite their claims of being Indian citizens.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
