Legal experts on Monday expressed dismay at the Supreme Court’s position on refugees, particularly in connection with the forcible deportation of Rohingyas.

Last week, the Supreme Court refused to hear a petition on the reported dumping of over 40 Rohingya refugees in the Andaman Sea off the Myanmar coast, terming it a “beautifully crafted story”. Hearing a plea against a high court order directing a Lankan citizen to leave the country after finishing his jail term, the apex court on Monday said India was not “a dharamshala”.

At a news conference organised by the Association for the Protection of Civil Rights, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan said: “It is very unfortunate that today the SC is using the same kind of words that this inhuman government uses in dealing with these refugees. They say that India is not a dharamshala.

“You keep saying vasudhaiva kutumbakam (all the world is a family). You keep tom-toming that India has a humane Constitution, Article 21 applies to everybody, citizen and non-citizen, and yet you are saying that they have no rights, you can treat them as you want... push them across the border and drop them in the sea!”

Colin Gonsalves, representing M. Ismail who has petitioned against the deportation of Rohingyas, said Jawaharlal Nehru had opened India’s doors to “tens of thousands of Tibetans”.

“What a glorious history we have.... The court says the country is not a dharamshala…. It pains me to hear these words,” he said.

“This is totally uncivil behaviour, both on the part of the government as well as the courts…. It is very unfortunate that a court which was once held in very high esteem internationally has descended to saying that India is not a dharamshala, that they (refugees) have no Article 19 rights, that India has not signed the refugee convention --- therefore they can be dealt with in any manner.”

Gonsalves highlighted a plea for a fresh investigation into the alleged killing of Felani Khatun — a 15-year-old Bangladeshi girl who was reported to have been shot dead by the BSF in 2011 after she got stuck in barbed wire as she tried to return from India. The case has been pending in the apex court for a decade.

“Our SC doesn’t have time for human rights matters,” he said.