The Supreme Court has agreed to an urgent listing of a plea seeking deportation of Rohingyas and other illegal immigrants from India.
Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay mentioned the matter before the bench headed by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli.
CJI asked, “Mr Ashwini Upadhyay, we always hear you almost every day. If all your matter to be taken up and order passed then why we have elected legislators, what purpose they have been elected, do we pass bill?”
Ashwini Upadhyay replied, “The Article 32 jurisdiction is to be used for such purposes milords.”
“Mr Tushar Mehta, if you have filed the counter we will list the matter,” said the CJI.
The plea also seeks Apex Court’s directive to Central and state governments to detect, arrest and extradite all the illegal migrants and intruders, including Bangladeshis and Rohingyas within one year.
The plea filed by Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay claimed that a huge number of illegal migrants has usurped sizable swathes of land, mainly in the vulnerable international border areas, which has “very serious implication for national security”.
“Fundamental rights of Indian citizens under Article 21 of the Constitution need to be addressed by the State. Right to life means to live with human dignity, having a right to food, having a right to shelter, having a right to a good environment, having a right to earn livelihood by lawful means etc. Therefore, the Central and State Government must identify & deport illegal migrants to protect the fundamental rights of Indian citizens,” said the plea.
“As evident from the Constitutional guarantee flowing from Article 19 of the Constitution, the right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India as well as right to move freely throughout the territory of India is available only to the citizens of India as evident from Article 19(1) of the Constitution. However, this right of Indian citizens is being violated due to illegal immigrants,” it added.
The petitioner has also accused illegal immigrants of engaging in unlawful and anti-national practices, mobilization of money through hawala channels and human trafficking.
In his petition, Upadhyay also sought a direction to modify laws and announce illegal migration as cognizable and non-compoundable offence.
“Large-scale illegal migrants, particularly from Myanmar and Bangladesh have not only threatened the demographic structure of bordering districts but have seriously impaired security and national integration, particularly in the present circumstances,” the plea said.