The Calcutta High Court has observed that a person cannot be identified as a Bangladeshi national and deported solely on the basis of suspicion, stressing that authorities must follow due legal procedures and provide sufficient opportunity to establish citizenship.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya made the observations on Thursday while hearing a petition challenging the detention of a resident of Murshidabad in West Bengal and a proposal to send him back to Bangladesh, according to Indian media outlet The Telegraph India.
The detained man’s lawyer, Rabiul Islam, told the court that his client had been held since August 8 based on suspicions arising from statements made by neighbours.
The man’s wife had approached the court, challenging both his detention and the proposed pushback by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO).
The court questioned why the man had been detained for two months and why the authorities had not followed a clear, verifiable procedure to establish his nationality.
Justice Bhattacharyya stressed that individuals must be given an adequate opportunity to prove their citizenship before any decision is made regarding their nationality or deportation.
The court also observed that allegations or statements from a few individuals alone cannot conclusively establish whether someone is an illegal immigrant. It further questioned the legality of detaining a person without following the prescribed legal process.
Referring to people who had crossed the border since the 1970s, the judge asked, “Is it possible to send everyone back in this manner?”
The court ordered that the proposed deportation be kept on hold for the time being and directed that the matter be placed before the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court for assignment to an appropriate bench.
The observations come amid ongoing debate across India over the detention and expedited deportation of people suspected of being foreign nationals. West Bengal and several other states have witnessed controversy over the use of detention facilities and the procedures used to determine nationality.
In some previous cases, individuals affected by deportation measures have been brought back following court orders.
The latest observations also come amid wider national debates over citizenship documentation and a special revision of electoral rolls, placing renewed focus on the legal safeguards required when authorities question a person’s nationality.
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