Calcutta HC asks Odisha to file affidavit on detention of Bengali migrants

Indian Express

4 days ago

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the Odisha government to file an affidavit on the alleged detention of Bengali-speaking workers on suspicion of being illegal Bangladesh migrants.
Hearing habeas corpus petitions filed by the families of two migrant workers from West Bengal, the Division Bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra directed the Advocate General of Odisha, who had joined the hearing virtually, to submit the affidavit by August 20 and to be physically present in the court.
During the hearing, the Division Bench asked the Odisha government's counsel to apprise the court whether the two Bengali migrant workers – Rakhibul Islam Mondal and Sainur Islam, both from Murshidabad – 'were arrested, interrogated, or detained'.
Pitambar Acharya, the Advocate General of Odisha government, denied they were arrested and called the petitions 'frivolous'.
The petitioners' counsel then informed the court that Mondal and Islam were released by Odisha Police after the High Court's intervention and demanded compensation for 'illegal detention'.
'The detention was illegal and therefore, compensation should be given. Those who have been released have stated that many others like them remained in custody — detained illegally and not produced before a magistrate.'
Odisha's AG, Acharya, told the High Court that the documents of the two migrant workers had been verified. 'As per the Foreigners Act, 1946, Section 3, when the citizenship of suspected persons is in doubt, we investigate for lawful verification of documents. People from all over the country come to work here, and lawfully, on suspicion, their documents are verified,' Acharya added.
Senior counsel Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for the petitioners, argued, 'There must be some grounds. Only on suspicion, they cannot declare someone a foreigner.'
Refuting the petitioners' contention that Bengali-speaking migrants were being targeted, the Odisha AG said: 'Bengalis are our brothers and neighbors. Don't mislead them by saying these things against us. Our Chief Justice is from Bengal. It is not a matter of Bengali or non-Bengali here. It is being verified whether they are citizens of this country or not.'
To this, counsel Banerjee countered, 'Then tell me, how many Tamils and how many Gujaratis have been arrested? Why are Bengalis being selectively verified?'
The High Court Bench then directed the Odisha government to file an affidavit on the detention. The petitioners were directed to file replies by August 27, before the court scheduled the next hearing on August 29.
The Division Bench on July 10 had directed the Odisha government to place before it relevant documents on whether the two had been detained or were missing. They were directed to answer that if detained, whether such detention was in connection with any court's order and the grounds for that.
One of the habeas corpus petitions has been filed by Nasima Mondal, mother of Rakhibul, resident of Hariharpara in Murshidabad district. She claimed that her son was detained in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district on June 25 and was held for more than 24 hours without being produced before a magistrate in violation of his fundamental rights.
According to her petition, Odisha Police 'ignored valid documents' in his possession — including Aadhaar, voter ID, and ration card. The petitioner alleged he was targeted for speaking Bengali and suspected of being Bangladeshi, without any proper identity checks.
The second petition was filed by Rajjak Sheikh, also from Hariharpara, seeking the release of his son, Sainur. He claimed Jagatsinghpur police detained his son during a similar identity verification drive on June 30.