New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to include a list for hearing from a PIL who asked the Center and others for instructions to locate, detain and deport illegal immigrants, including Rohingyas and Bangladeshi nationals, while its expressed displeasure at why it should hear matters related to the functioning of the political executive.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana told petitioner attorney Ashwini Upadhyay it would hear its PIL on the matter if the Center, represented by Attorney General Tushar Mehta, filed the response.
At the outset, Mr. Upadhyay said the plea seeks to locate, detain and deport illegal immigrants estimated to number $5 million and take away citizens’ right to livelihood.
“I need to hear your case every day. The problems under the sun… all the problems, parliament, member issue, nomination issue, electoral reforms. These are all political issues. You go to the government and fight with the government and find a solution,” said the bench, which also included judges Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli.
Few state governments offer free homes to these illegal immigrants, Upadhyay said.
“I agree that all your cases must be taken up and the orders you have requested must be passed on. I am sorry, I cannot use the words. But the question is what purpose are they (elected representatives) in there for Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,” the CJI noted.
When told that the highest court had made statements about the PIL in March last year, the bank said it would hear the case once the response was submitted by the Center.
Mr Upadhyay of the PIL has claimed that large-scale illegal immigrants, especially from Myanmar and Bangladesh, have not only threatened the demographic fabric of neighboring districts, but have also seriously affected security and national integration.
The plea said that in its 175th report of September 21, 2000 on the Foreigners (Amendment) Bill 2000, the Law Commission also noted that the entry of illegal immigrants and other unwanted aliens into India posed a serious threat to India’s democracy and security , especially for the eastern part of the country and Jammu and Kashmir.
“The demographic composition in the country, especially the neighboring districts, has been changed by illegal immigration from Myanmar and Bangladesh. The neighboring districts of Assam, West Bengal Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura have experienced population growth rates above the national average. Illegal immigrants have used West Bengal as a corridor to migrate to other parts,” the plea said.
Mr. Upadhyay has also asked the court to order the central and state governments to declare the making of counterfeit or fabricated PAN, Aadhaar cards, passports, rations, voter cards and such other documents, non-payable, non-joinable.
Mohammad Salimullah, a Rohingya refugee through lawyer Prashant Bhushan, has also previously filed a separate PIL, seeking protection of the right of Rohingyas against their deportation to Myanmar.
Violent attacks by Myanmar army soldiers have led to an exodus of Rohingya tribes from the western state of Rakhine in that country to India and Bangladesh.
Many of those who fled to India after the previous wave of violence have settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)