Author: R. Venkataraman
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: April 5, 2002
In a judgment affecting lakhs of
Bangladeshi migrants and other foreign nationals staying in India, the
Supreme Court has ruled that "long stay in the country and enrolment in
the voters' list would not confer any right to an alien to continue to
stay in the country".
A division bench of Justices Doraiswamy
Raju and Ashok Bhan upheld an order of Rajasthan High Court deporting a
family back to Pakistan from where they had come to India in 1955 after
migrating to Pakistan following Partition in 1947.
Bhanwaroo Khan and his family members
had come to India in 1955 and continued to stay in Rajasthan. In 1984,
they applied to the state government for registration as citizens of India.
After police inquiry, the state home department refused to grant them citizenship
and instead served deportation notices.
On appeal, the Rajasthan High Court
dismissed their petition, saying a "case for interference with the order
of deportation is not made out".
Upholding the high court decision,
the Supreme Court in its judgment said: "We do not find any infirmity with
the reasoning of the high court or the conclusion arrived at."
The case assumes significance in
the light of another judgment by Delhi High Court relating to Bangladeshi
migrants. The high court in 1999 had held that their (Bangladeshis) holding
ration cards, electoral registration cards and the fact that they had voted
in all the previous elections "does not mean that they are Indian citizens".
The case came up following the Delhi
government's order of deportation and there is a case pending in the Supreme
Court by the All India Lawyers Forum for Civil Rights demanding the deportation
of Bangladeshi migrants. When the then Shiv Sena regime in Maharashtra
started deporting the illegal aliens, Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamul Congress,
an NDA ally, cried wolf and said West Bengal would give them asylum.
The then chief minister Jyoti Basu
filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying it was "humanly not possible"
to deport Bangladeshis as they had "mingled with the local population"
and had obtained ration cards, voter identification cards and other proof
of citizenship.
However, under chief minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee, the state government has filed an amended affidavit in the
apex court detailing steps taken to deport the illegal migrants.
Similarly, the Assam government
under chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta wanted the Illegal Migrants
(Determination by Tribunal) Act repealed, as it was difficult to prove
a migrant was an alien. But under chief minister Tarun Gogoi, the state
government has filed an amended affidavit contending that it was against
repealing the Act and that a Cabinet decision to that effect had been already
taken.
The Supreme Court, in the instant
case, said the deportation order passed by the Union of India was "correct
and in accordance with (the) law".
However, the apex court said if
the appellants, Khan and his family members applied for fresh citizenship
under Section 5 of the Citizenship Act, "it would be open to the authorities
to proceed and decide the application in accordance with (the) law".
Applying for citizenship, as several
Indians go abroad and apply, is governed by laws such as the Citizenship
Act.