Why such 'hot haste'? Calcutta HC questions Delhi police on deportation of pregnant woman, family without full inquiry

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday repeatedly questioned Delhi police about the "hot haste" in pushing eight months pregnant Sunali Khatun, who has roots in Birbhum, into Bangladesh after branding her an illegal immigrant despite a 30-day inquiry allowed by the statute.The division bench of justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra, which was hearing a habeas corpus plea by Khatun's father, raised the question after Delhi police mentioned the dates of her detention in the national capital and deportation. Khatun, her husband Danish Sheikh and the couple's toddler son Sabir were "intercepted" on June 21 for being illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. A detention order was passed against them on June 24 and they were deported to Bangladesh two days later.

Another Birbhum woman, Sweety Biwi, and her two children were deported with Khatun and her family."The (Centre's) circular says not to conduct a hot haste inquiry, you had 30 days for the inquiry. The inquiry had to be in collaboration with the state authorities (in Bengal) because the porous border (which can lead to infiltration) is with the state of West Bengal," Justice Chakraborty asked senior advocate Dhiraj Trivedi, who was representing Delhi police.

"You have not yet disclosed how these people were sent back. You must have contacted the Bangladesh Border Guards and given them the requisition to take them back. That is a diplomatic rel-ationship. Why the detention order was passed on June 24, why within two days was the person taken and sent back to Bangladesh?"Delhi police told the HC bench that Khatun, Danish, who was a ragpicker in Delhi, and the child were detained following a tip-off that they were Bangladeshis and had illegally entered India.

HC asks about informer ID; 'won't give impromptu answer,' says Delhi Their family later said the cops had ignored the identity documents produced by Khatun and Danish to prove their Indian citizenship. "We do not know who your special informer was. When the person was stopped, it was June 21. Detention order was given on June 24 and they were deported on June 26. Why this hot haste?" Justice Chakraborty asked again. Trivedi said he would not give "impromptu answers" and sought time to confer with his client and file a reply.The action against the group from Birbhum coincided with the crackdown in multiple states on illegal settlers from Bangladesh, during which many Bengalis from Bengal were harassed. The group was arrested by Bangladesh police in Chapai Nawabganj on Aug 21 for illegally entering Bangladesh and sent to a prison on Aug 23.Tuesday's hearing followed an Aug 29 order by the Supreme Court asking the Calcutta HC to decide the case expeditiously.

Trivedi and additional solicitor general Asok Kumar Chakraborti, who represented the Centre, however, questioned the high court's jurisdiction to hear the petition as it involved Delhi police. "These petitions should be dismissed on the question of sovereignty, integrity and national security of the country. It is not the question of Bengali-speaking people being deported. It's a question of a mala fide attempt to enter India - migrate, infiltrate - which is the problem of India for the last 30 years," Chakrabarti submitted.He also argued that the onus was on the petitioners to prove they are Indian citizens. The bench told advocate Raghunath Chakraborty, who was representing Khatun and five others, to state during the next hearing on Thursday whether the group had received the deportation order at all. The order is crucial to justify the illegal detention.