The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition from a former LTTE member challenging his deportation to Sri Lanka, saying India was not a "dharamshala" for refugees and was battling its own problems with a 140-crore population.
“Do you think India is a dharamshala to host refugees from all over the world? As it is, we are struggling with a population of 140 crore. India is not a dharamshala to entertain foreign nationals from all over the world,” Justice Dipankar Datta, heading a bench, told advocate R. Sudhakaran.
Sudhakaran was appearing for Sri Lankan national and former LTTE member Subaskaran alias Jeevan, who pleaded that he would face political persecution if deported to his country.
Subaskaran was arrested in 2015 and booked under Section 10 (penalty for being a member of an unlawful association) of the UAPA. He was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment by a trial court in Tamil Nadu.
Madras High Court reduced his punishment to seven years in 2022 but directed that Subaskaran be kept in a refugee camp after completing his sentence and then deported to Sri Lanka.
Subaskaran’s counsel pleaded that the petitioner was facing threats of arrest and torture in his country and that his wife and children were already settled in India.
The bench, which also had Justice K. Vinod Chandran, rejected the plea. “What is your right to settle here? Go to some other country.”