‘Acted in hot haste’: Calcutta HC orders return of Bengali migrants deported to Bangladesh
_vb_34.jpeg)
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has quashed the Union government’s deportation orders against two migrant worker families from West Bengal, directing that six individuals pushed into Bangladesh earlier this year be brought back to India within four weeks.
A division bench of Justices Reetobroto Mitra and Tapabrata Chakraborty, while hearing two habeas corpus petitions, held that the authorities had “acted in hot haste” and “admittedly did not follow” the Union home ministry’s May 2 guidelines on identifying and deporting undocumented foreigners.
The deported group includes 26-year-old Sunali Khatun from Birbhum district, who was in an advanced stage of pregnancy. The court noted glaring inconsistencies in the official proceedings, observing that her interrogation report claimed she had crossed into India in 1998 even though her Aadhaar and PAN records proved she had not yet been born at that time.
Petitioners Bhodu Sekh and Amir Khan alleged that their relatives, who had moved to Delhi for employment, were detained in June, coerced into signing documents, and subsequently deported to Bangladesh through Guwahati.
The bench concluded that the deportations “raise a suspicion that the concerned authorities, while acting in hot haste, have clearly violated the provisions” of the May 2 instructions. It directed the Union government to coordinate with the Indian High Commission in Dhaka and ensure the six deportees’ repatriation. A government plea to stay the order was rejected.
The ruling has triggered a political row. Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP of targeting Bengali speakers, saying, “They are arresting and detaining people just for speaking Bengali… along with the slap that the high court delivered today, they must also apologise.”
BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar described the deportations as “an awful mistake” and called Khatun’s case “collateral damage,” but maintained that “lakhs of Bangladeshi infiltrators cannot be allowed to stay in our country using this instance as a shield."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Advocate found dead in car on Nainital court premises
Nainital (PTI): A 55-year-old advocate allegedly died by suicide after shooting himself inside his car at the Nainital district court parking lot here on Monday, police said.
According to the police, Puran Singh Bhakuni, a resident of Mallital, was found in the rear seat of his vehicle with a gunshot wound to his temple.
Police recovered a licensed pistol from his hand and a suicide note from the car’s dashboard. The note stated that Bhakuni was unwell and suffering from depression.
"We received information through lawyers around noon. The deceased was lying in the back seat with a pistol in his hand and blood near his ear," Circle Officer Anjana Negi said.
Forensic teams and ballistic experts reached the spot to collect evidence, as no witness reported hearing the gunshot.
Government counsel Sushil Sharma stated that Bhakuni left home at 9 am and was found dead at 9.30 am.
Sharma raised concerns over the circumstances, noting that the body was in the rear seat, and demanded a thorough probe to rule out foul play. Bhakuni, who worked as a notary, had married six months ago, he said.
Police took the body into custody and sent it for a postmortem to confirm the cause of death.
The forensic laboratory will examine the suicide note and the ballistics of the weapon, the police said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
