Calcutta HC Halts Deportation Of Rohingya Couple Back To Myanmar Until Their Plea Is Disposed

The Calcutta High Court has restrained the Central and West Bengal governments from deporting a Rohingya couple, in "the spirit of humanity" till the disposal of a writ petition filed by the duo.

A bench headed by Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya gave the order on a 18 December writ petition in which Abdur Sukur alias Adi Sukur and his wife Anowara Begam pleaded they should not be sent back to Myanmar "to face persecution" having already sought refugee status with the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR) in New Delhi.

The couple, arrested in 2017 from 24 Parganas North district's Basirhat after they entered India through Bangladesh and were on their way to Delhi for a UNHCR hearing, have served out their sentence but are still lodged in Dum Dum jail.

Justice Bhattacharya gave time till 10 January to the State and Central governments to file their affidavit-in-opposition, and fixed 17 January as deadline for the petitioners to furnish their replies. 20 January will be the next date of hearing.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)