The Supreme Court on Friday sought a reply from the Centre on allegations that migrant Muslim workers from Bengal were being detained illegally in many states on suspicion of being Bangladeshis.

It, however, said that Calcutta High Court was free to deal with the habeas corpus petition moved before it for the production of “Sunali Bibi”, allegedly deported to
Bangladesh.

The Telegraph had reported that a migrant couple from Birbhum — Danish Sheikh, 26, and Sonali Khatun, 24 — had been pushed into Bangladesh by Delhi Police along with their son Sabir, 5, and three other Bengali migrant workers. A habeas corpus petition on “Sunali Khatun and five others” is pending before the high court.

The apex court on Friday impleaded the state of Gujarat in the matter. Nine other states had been issued notices during the last hearing of the petition, moved by the West Bengal Migrant Workers Welfare Board.

These states are Bengal, Odisha, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar,
Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana.

Appearing for the board, advocate Prashant Bhushan complained that Sunali had been forcibly pushed out of the country merely because she was a Bengali speaker, without anybody determining that she was indeed a foreigner. He said this violated international laws and covenants.

“She has been arrested by Bangladeshi authorities who are saying she’s an Indian,” Bhushan told the bench of Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi.

Bhushan added: “These are the kind of things that are happening and the Calcutta High Court had adjourned the habeas corpus plea filed on her behalf as the Supreme Court was hearing the issue relating to the deportation of Bengali-speaking Muslims.”

He said that in some instances, BSF personnel had threatened to shoot those being deported unless they ran to the other side of the border.

“Once a person is within the Indian landmass, there must be some procedure which is to be followed,” Justice Bagchi observed.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, intervened to question the board’s locus standi.

“Why have associations/ organisations come here? Let some individual come saying, ‘I am being pushed out.’ The moment they come, they will have to justify (their) presence legally,” he said.

The bench, however, observed that the petitioner’s allegation was that people were being singled out solely because they are Bengali speakers. “Is language a presumption of being a foreigner?” it asked.

Justice Kant, however, agreed with Mehta that illegal immigration was going on.

“There are persons who are trying to enter — (in) forcing them back, there should not be any difficulty. But those who are presumed to have entered, the first question is they have to show proof of citizenship,” he said.

Justice Bagchi said: “There are questions of national security, integrity of nation... preservation of our resources — but at the same time, we have a legacy of common heritage. In Bengal and Punjab, the language is the same, the border divides us. We want the Union of India to clarify on the issue.”

Bhushan said that illegal detentions were now happening even in Gujarat, with nearly 1,000 people lodged in detention centres.

The bench asked Bhushan whether the police did not have the power to detain people on the apprehension that they were illegal immigrants. “Even on apprehension, one can be detained,” it remarked.

It posted the next hearing to September 11.

In its order, the apex court said: “…We clarify that the issue raised in the writ petition pending before this court is entirely different and has no bearing on the writ… of habeas corpus pending before the high court. Consequently, we request the high court to immediately take up the (plea) and other similar matters to pass appropriate orders.”

Mamata ‘relief’

In a post on X, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the top court’s directive “to hear the plea of the migrant workers on priority in the High Court… comes as a huge relief to the detained workers”.

“We repose full faith in the judiciary to ensure dignity, fairness and constitutional justice for every worker from Bengal,” she added.