The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea challenging the Assam government’s reported “pushback” policy against infiltration from Bangladesh, but agreed to examine an individual case of “illegal detention” of a woman by the state police amid widespread allegations of forcible deportations.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Satish Chandra Sharma refused to entertain the petition filed by the All BTC Minority Students Association, which had also sought a direction restraining the deportation or “pushback” of the detainee across the Indian border.
The bench told senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for the association, to approach the high court for relief.
“Why are you not approaching Gauhati High Court?” Justice Karol, heading the bench, asked Hegde when he said the organisation was constrained to move the apex court in view of its February order directing the deportation of illegal migrants.
The bench said it was not inclined to entertain the plea as the petitioner had an alternative remedy. Hegde sought permission to withdraw the petition with liberty to approach the high court.
However, the bench issued notice to the Assam government on the habeas corpus petition filed by a 26-year-old man seeking the production of his mother Monowara Bewa, who was allegedly under illegal detention.
The bench sought the state government’s response after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for petitioner Yunus Ali alias Lunuch Ali, submitted that the woman was feared to have been deported to Bangladesh.
The petitioner submitted that his mother was detained on May 24 after being called to Dhubri police station on the pretext of recording
her statement.
Sibal told the bench that Monowara had previously filed a civil appeal in the Supreme Court challenging Gauhati High Court’s order affirming the findings of a foreigners’ tribunal in Assam that she was a foreign national. He said the woman was being “thrown out” despite her appeal still pending in the
top court.
The top court said it could not ask for her return if she was already in Bangladesh. “We can’t call her back if she is not in the country,” the
bench remarked.
Sibal, however, said the Assam police should not have deported her to Bangladesh or detained her illegally at a time her civil appeal was pending in the top court.
Sibal argued that Monowara’s son had the right to know where his mother was, and the authorities were duty-bound to inform the court about her whereabouts.
The bench issued a formal notice to the Assam government and posted the matter to next week for further hearing.