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Cannot declare someone B’deshi on mere suspicion: Kolkata HC

Published : Friday, 9 October, 2026 at 2:13 PM

Observer Online Report

Collected Photo

The Calcutta High Court has ruled that individuals cannot be declared illegal Bangladeshi migrants and deported based solely on neighbourly suspicion or unverified claims without giving them adequate opportunity to prove their citizenship.

Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya made the observation during the hearing of a petition challenging the detention and proposed deportation of a resident from Murshidabad district, West Bengal.

The petition, filed by the detainee's wife, challenged an order issued by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO). Her counsel, Rabiul Islam, informed the court that his client had been held in detention since August 8 based entirely on statements provided by a few neighbours.

Issuing a stay on the deportation order, Justice Bhattacharyya noted that the relevant authorities appeared to have denied the applicant a fair hearing. He questioned why the individual remained detained for over two months without a clear and verifiable process to determine his nationality.

"How can someone's nationality be conclusively determined based merely on such statements?" the court questioned, emphasizing that no individual can be detained without due legal process. "How many people have crossed the border since the 1970s? Can all of them be sent back?"

Justice Bhattacharyya subsequently referred the matter to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court for assignment to an appropriate bench.

The ruling comes amid heightened scrutiny over drive policies targeting Bengali-speaking Muslims across several Indian states, alongside the implementation of detention and deportation measures by the West Bengal state administration.

Addressing the court, Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Majumder, representing the state government, argued that the detainee might have obtained identification documents—including voter cards, Aadhaar, and PAN cards—using fraudulent papers.

However, the High Court reiterated that state authorities must thoroughly verify documentation prior to issuing deportation orders rather than branding individuals as infiltrators based on oral assertions.

-SA

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Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury

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