The Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted a pregnant woman and her eight-year-old child to re-enter India on humanitarian grounds, months after they were allegedly picked up from Delhi and pushed across the border into Bangladesh.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, sitting with Justice Joymalya Bagchi, said the West Bengal government must immediately take responsibility for the minor child and ensure full medical support to the woman, Sunali Khatun. The court directed the Chief Medical Officer of Birbhum district to supervise her care.
The bench recorded the statement of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, that the “competent authority” had decided to allow their entry purely on humanitarian considerations. He added that both mother and child would remain under surveillance.
The top court also noted that after their medical needs are stabilised, they will eventually be brought back to Delhi—the city from where they were reportedly detained and deported.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Sanjay Hegde, appearing for the petitioners, urged the court to consider the plight of several others, including Sunali’s husband, who remain in Bangladesh. They requested that the Centre seek instructions on their return as well.
Mehta responded that he would oppose their claim of Indian citizenship, maintaining that the individuals were Bangladeshi nationals. He clarified that the present permission was granted “only on humanitarian grounds” and did not reflect any acceptance of their citizenship claim.
According to Sunali’s father, the families had been living in Delhi’s Rohini Sector 26 for more than twenty years as daily-wage workers. He alleged that they were picked up by Delhi Police on June 18 on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals and were pushed across the border on June 27.
The matter will continue as the court examines the broader issues surrounding the deportations and the claims of citizenship raised before it.
