Calcutta HC slams centre: Orders swift return of deported Birbhum migrant families from Bangladesh

In a powerful rebuke to hasty deportations, the Calcutta High Court today dismantled the Central government's controversial decision to push back two vulnerable families from West Bengal's Birbhum district into Bangladesh, branding them as illegal migrants without due process. The division bench, led by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Ritabrata Kumar Mitra, rejected the Centre's plea to uphold the deportation and issued a stern directive: repatriate the six affected individuals—including eight-months-pregnant Sonali Bibi, her husband Danish Sheikh, their eight-year-old son, and Sweety Bibi with her two young sons—within a strict four-week deadline. This landmark ruling not only exposes flaws in India's migrant verification system but also underscores the human cost of aggressive anti-immigration drives, where innocent Bengali-speaking workers risk losing everything over mere suspicion. Sonali and her kin, residents of Paikar village under Murarai police station, were yanked from their lives in Delhi's bustling streets, leaving behind shattered families and unanswered cries for justice.

The ordeal began on June 18, when Delhi Police at the KN Katju Marg station in Rohini district swooped down on the families during a routine crackdown on suspected Bangladeshi infiltrators. Danish, a daily wage laborer, his wife Sonali—who was already heavy with their second child—and their young boy were among six Bengali migrants detained without warning. Speaking haltingly in their native tongue, the families presented ration cards, voter IDs, and Aadhaar proofs linking them to Birbhum, but these were dismissed as "insufficient" by overzealous officers. Within days, a detention order was slapped on June 24, and by June 26, they were handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) for a swift pushback across the porous Indo-Bangla border—bypassing the mandatory 30-day inquiry period outlined in central guidelines.

Relatives back home in Birbhum, alerted via frantic phone calls from the station, rushed to Delhi only to find the cells empty and officials stonewalling: "They've been repatriated," came the curt reply, with no details on the border crossing point or their fate.As news trickled in, horror unfolded across the border. The families, now stateless in a foreign land, were promptly arrested by Bangladeshi authorities for illegal entry and thrown into jail in Chuadanga district. Sonali, enduring the final trimester of her pregnancy in a sweltering cell, faced unimaginable trauma—medical checkups denied, basic amenities scarce, and the constant fear for her unborn child's citizenship status.

Sweety Bibi, a 32-year-old widow scraping by as a domestic help, clutched her sons aged six and 16, both traumatized by the sudden upheaval from Delhi's familiar chaos to Bangladeshi detention. "They are our blood, our soil—how can India abandon its own?" wailed Bhodu Sheikh, Sonali's father, who filed a missing person diary at Paikar police station on July 6 before turning to the courts. This wasn't just a family crisis; it mirrored a broader pattern of Bengali migrants caught in the crosshairs of national security rhetoric, their accents and origins weaponized against them.The legal battle ignited when the West Bengal Migrant Labour Welfare Board stepped in, filing habeas corpus petitions in the Supreme Court on behalf of the families. The apex court, recognizing the gravity, transferred the matter to the Calcutta High Court for urgent hearing, emphasizing that such pushbacks demanded judicial scrutiny.

The state government threw its weight behind the plea, revealing that Delhi Police had ignored repeated verifications from Birbhum officials confirming the families' Indian citizenship—documents emailed and shared, yet met with radio silence. In affidavits, the Centre defended the action as a "routine repatriation" under Ministry of Home Affairs directives, claiming the migrants "accepted" their Bangladeshi origins. But the bench wasn't buying it. "Pushback isn't a casual eviction; it tramples life and liberty," Justice Chakraborty thundered during Friday's session, grilling the Additional Solicitor General on the opaque "method and manner" of the deportation—details the Centre had dodged in prior filings.

The hearing crackled with tension as the bench dissected the Centre's arguments, labeling the two-day deportation timeline a blatant violation of procedural safeguards. The West Bengal counsel hammered home the humanitarian angle: illiterate workers, a pregnant woman on the brink of delivery, minors uprooted—these weren't threats but threads in India's migrant tapestry. Rejecting the Centre's bid for a stay, the court mandated immediate diplomatic channels with Bangladesh for safe passage, holding the Union accountable for any delays. This isn't mere legalese; it's a clarion call against the dehumanizing machinery that chews up the poor, often along linguistic lines.

As TMC MP Samirul Islam hailed it as "Bengal's victory over anti-Bengali forces," the ruling ripples beyond Birbhum, challenging the narrative that equates Bengali identity with illegality.Looking ahead, this verdict could reshape deportation protocols, forcing a rethink on how India safeguards its diaspora from knee-jerk expulsions. For Sonali and Sweety, the countdown to four weeks ticks with fragile hope. Advocacy groups like the Migrant Welfare Board vow relentless monitoring, while activists decry the silence on similar unreported cases. In the end, the High Court's gavel echoes a timeless truth: justice delayed is justice denied, but here, it's been reclaimed with unyielding resolve.