HC criticises West Bengal for seeking more time to review school bus driver’s citizenship documents

The Karnataka High Court on Monday criticised the West Bengal government for requesting more time to review documents proving the citizenship of a school bus driver detained in Bengaluru after the police alleged that he was an undocumented Bangladeshi migrant, The Indian Express reported

Rafikul Biswas was detained in August 2025. He had told Scroll at the time that he was from West Bengal’s Nadia district and had been living in Bengaluru for more than seven years with his wife and daughter. He had stated that the police were threatening to deport him to Bangladesh.

The 32-year-old has records showing that he is an Indian citizen by birth and was issued a fresh voter identity card in the special intensive revision of Bengal’s electoral rolls, The Indian Express reported.

However, the counsel for the West Bengal government had sought more time to receive fresh instructions from the state in the matter. The new authorities wanted to review the document submitted before the court, the newspaper quoted the counsel as saying.

The Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in West Bengal after defeating the Trinamool Congress in the Assembly elections in May.

On Monday, Biswas’ lawyer asked in court: “Can my citizenship depend on vagaries of who is in power in a particular state? This is extremely dangerous.”

The lawyer said...

Read more