The four-week deadline set by Calcutta High Court for the Centre to repatriate expectant mother Birbhum woman Sunali Khatun and five others from Bangladesh ended on Friday.
However, the individuals, including the pregnant woman and three children, have not yet been brought back, raising questions about when they will finally return to their homeland.
A division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra on September 26 directed the Centre to bring back all six members of two Birbhum families, including eight-month pregnant Sunali aka Sonali Khatun, from Bangladesh within four weeks. The court also set aside the central government’s order to deport Sunali, along with her husband and minor son.
“Today, the four-week deadline given by the court has passed. The family members are distressed, waiting to know when they will return home. Unfortunately, the central government has not taken any initiative to bring back those poor people who were unlawfully deported,” said Samirul Islam, Trinamool Rajya Sabha member and chairman of the West Bengal Migrant Workers’
Welfare Board.
The family members and the ruling dispensation are also planning to move court again, citing a violation of its September 26 order. “We will certainly see an end to this and ensure their return legally,” he added.
Sunali and others were allegedly detained by Delhi Police on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals and later deported to the neighbouring country. The family members of Sunali and Sweety Biwi had moved Calcutta High Court, asserting that those deported were actually Indian residents from Murarai in Birbhum.
The court asked the Centre to make necessary correspondence with the Indian high commission in Dhaka to ensure their return.
Sunali and others were also detained by the Bangladesh authorities on charges of illegal infiltration and produced before a local court. After verifying their documents, a Bangladesh court in a recent order declared Sunali and five others, including three children, as Indian citizens and directed the Indian high commission in Dhaka to take steps to repatriate them to India.
They were again produced before the same court in Chapai Nawabganj district of Bangladesh for framing of charges, however, the charges were not framed. The family remain worried about all six individuals, particularly Sunali, who is on the verge of giving birth.