Supreme Court Agrees To A Final Hearing For Plea Against Deportation Of Illegal Rohingyas To Myanmar

The Supreme Court (SC) has agreed to accord a final hearing to petitions challenging the Narendra Modi led central government’s decision to deport illegal Rohingya immigrants, Press Trust of India has reported.

This final hearing would be conducted in August and an apex court bench comprising of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose has asked both the parties to submit written submissions in the meantime. SC will also hear petitions in support of the deportation during the hearing.

The litigation began in 2017 when two Rohingyas - Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir, purportedly registered as refugees under the United Nations High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR).

Their petition argued that the deportation is in contravention to equal rights and liberty promised to every person under the Indian Constitution.

“This act would also be in contradiction with the principle of 'Non-Refoulement', which has been widely recognised as a principle of Customary International Law”, the petition added.

In total, around 40,000 illegal Rohingyas stand to be deported from India to Myanmar. They are currently believed to be settled in regions like Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.