Kolkata, Oct. 8 -- The Calcutta High Court on Thursday questioned the prolonged detention of a man suspected to be a Bangladeshi national, asking the state how a person could be kept in custody without following due process and whether decades-old border crossings could, by themselves, become grounds for deportation.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya raised questions over the man's detention since August 8, which had continued for nearly two months. Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Majumdar appeared for the state.
The court also scrutinised the material on which a deportation order was passed. It noted that the order appeared to rely on statements made by some members of the man's family and questioned whether such statements could establish his nationality.
The bench stressed that before deporting a person, authorities must consider relevant material capable of establishing that the person is a foreign national. The state submitted that documents such as Aadhaar or PAN obtained through forged documents could constitute grounds for deportation. The court was also informed that the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer had issued a deportation order while the proceedings were pending and after the court had already passed an order in the matter.
When the state sought a direction asking the petitioner to approach the FRRO, the court declined, noting that the man was detained by the police and that the detention memo was issued by the police authorities.
The writ petition was thereafter released and directed to be placed before the appropriate Bench dealing with Special Intensive Revision-related matters. It will be heard by Justice Krishna Rao on October 14.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.