The Calcutta high court on Thursday questioned whether the West Bengal government could deport to Bangladesh all those who crossed the international border in the 1970s, while hearing a petition challenging the detention of a man held since August 10 for deportation.
The police interrogated him and accused him of being a Bangladeshi. The court observed that prior to deportation, the petitioner has to be given a chance to respond to the affidavit filed by the local police who detained and interrogated him. The deportation order was issued while the case was still being heard by the Calcutta high court.
The court was hearing a petition concerning a man, Sahidul Sheikh, who was detained by the police at Raninagar in Murshidabad on August 10 during a special drive.
“The court has kept the deportation order passed by the FRO on September 26. “Else it will appear to the court that by filing the petition the petitioner has expedited the case. If he is deported then nothing remains. The petition will become infructuous,” the bench observed. “In the writ petition a case of illegal detention has been made out. It is submitted that this court doesn’t have determination to hear the matter. The court kept his deportation order in abeyance until the next hearing in October.
For the ends of justice, the deportation order shall be kept in abeyance till the next date of hearing by the appropriate court,” the court said. The matter will be heard in another bench dealing with such cases,” a lawyer, aware of the development, said.
