You want a red carpet for undocumented migrants, asks SC on Rohingya ‘disappearances’ plea

The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned how far the law should be stretched to accept persons who immigrate to India illegally, Bar and Bench reported.

The court also asked if the Union government had issued any order that declared Rohingyas as refugees.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a habeas corpus plea, which alleged that five Rohingya persons had been detained by the authorities and then disappeared. The petition sought that the deportation of undocumented migrants be carried out in line with the processes.

Kant said that India had a “sensitive border” in the north and questioned whether immigrants should be given access to the country’s resources at the cost of the needs of Indian citizens, Bar and Bench reported.

“And so you want a red carpet for them [undocumented migrants],” he was quoted as saying. You enter through [a] tunnel, etc and then you are entitled to food, shelter, right to education for children etc.”

Kant also said that “asking habeas corpus” was “very fanciful”, Bar and Bench reported. A habeas corpus is a petition through which courts can order the authorities to produce a person before them to verify if they have been detained.

The court questioned whether there was a basis to show that the persons who had allegedly disappeared are refugees....

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