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Published : 22 May 2026, 08:44 PM
India’s central government has informed the Supreme Court (SC) about its decision to repatriate some people it pushed into Bangladesh last year to verify their claim of Indian citizenship.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the central government, informed the SC bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant on Friday that the repatriation process would take eight to ten days, according to The Telegraph.
"The government will bring them back and verify their nationality status. Further steps will be taken based on the findings," the report quoted Mehta telling the apex court.
He also informed the court that this decision was made considering the unique circumstances of the case and should not be treated as a precedent.
The Supreme Court has scheduled the next hearing for July.
The apex court was hearing an appeal by the central government challenging a Calcutta High Court (HC) order dated Sept 26, 2025.
The HC had declared the deportation of six individuals, including a pregnant woman named Sunali Khatun and her 8-year-old child, as "illegal".
The legal battle intensified when the SC summoned the central government on Apr 24, 2026, regarding the repatriation of the remaining individuals.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Sanjay Hegde, representing Sunali’s father, Bhodu Sekh, argued that the Indian governments’ ambiguity on the matter was "unfair" to the victims' relatives.
Citing a petition filed by Bhodu, the Kolkata-based newspaper reported that Bhodu’s family had been working as daily wage earners in Sector 26 of Delhi's Rohini area for over two decades.
On Jun 18 last year, Delhi police detained them on suspicion of being undocumented Bangladeshi nationals, and on Jun 27, they were pushed across the border into Bangladesh.
A parallel petition by Amir Khan, a resident of Birbhum in West Bengal, claimed that his sister Sweety Bibi and her two children were similarly detained from the same Delhi area and expelled, the newspaper reported.
The Border Security Force (BSF) actually pushed the six individuals into Bangladesh through the Kurigram border on Jun 27 last year.
Upon entering Chapainawabganj, Bangladeshi law-enforcing authorities arrested them for illegal trespass.
They were sent to prison on Aug 22.
After nearly four months in Chapainawabganj jail, a local court granted them bail on humanitarian grounds on Dec 2, releasing them into the custody of a local guarantor.
The court also suggested exploring diplomatic channels for their repatriation.
The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) initiated contact with Indian authorities.
Amid flag meetings and diplomatic efforts between the BGB and BSF, the Calcutta HC permitted Sunali and her child to re-enter India on humanitarian grounds on Dec 3 last year.
The HC had directed the central government to ensure that the six deported citizens are brought back to India within a month and rejected the government's appeal to grant temporary stay on the order.
A union home ministry memo cited by the HC detailed protocols to be followed for deportation, according to The Telegraph.
The memo said, as the Indian newspaper reported, in respect of Bangladesh/Myanmar nationals identified to be staying in an unauthorised manner in any particular state or Union Territory, an inquiry will be conducted by the state government or Union Territory concerned, following which the process of deportation would be taken up.
In its order, the HC had observed that "the proceeding for deportation was conducted in hot haste" by the authorities and in violation of the provisions of the memo, reported The Telegraph.
"The detainees have their relations residing in the State of West Bengal...the kind of overenthusiasm in deporting the detainees, as visible herein, is susceptible to misunderstanding and disturbs the judicial climate in the country," the HC order was quoted by the report.
