The Calcutta High Court has issued an interim directive prohibiting the pushback of a woman and her two minor daughters to Bangladesh, following their detention on suspicion of being illegal immigrants.
A division bench comprising Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Arjun Ray Mukherjee, sitting during the Puja vacation, ordered the West Bengal state authorities to produce the detainees before a magistrate within 24 hours, register specific charges under the law, and afford them full opportunity to defend themselves.
The ruling comes amid growing allegations that Bengali-speaking Muslims across several districts of West Bengal, including Cooch Behar, Malda, Murshidabad, and Birbhum, are facing harassment, unlawful detention, and summary deportation despite claiming Indian citizenship.
Detained at the Border
The judicial intervention follows a writ petition filed by Lebu Mia, a 30-year-old resident of Cooch Behar, who sought protection for his family after they were intercepted by immigration officials at the Changrabandha border post on 21 October.
According to advocate Anindya Ghosh, representing the petitioner, the woman and her two young children were attempting to cross into Bangladesh whilst holding valid Indian passports and visas. The children were born at a hospital in Cooch Behar and possessed official birth certificates. Despite presenting these credentials, immigration personnel detained them on suspicion of holding false identity papers and transferred them to the “Apon Ghar” shelter home, managed by the Dinhata Municipality.
The family remained unaware of their precise whereabouts until 28 October, seven days after the initial detention. The petitioner’s counsel highlighted that the woman and children had been held continuously without formal charges being registered or an appearance before a magistrate, whilst being repeatedly threatened with summary deportation.
Dispute over passports and documentation
During proceedings, counsel for the state government argued that the petitioner’s wife was originally a Bangladeshi national who had married an Indian citizen.
Justice Arjun Ray Mukherjee pressed the state’s legal team on whether the passports and visas presented by the petitioner were proven to be forged. The state counsel replied that preliminary inquiries suggested the documents were fraudulent, reiterating the claim that the detainees were foreign nationals.
In response, the petitioner’s advocate asserted that the wife is an Indian citizen, adding that the couple were legally married under Islamic personal law and held a valid marriage certificate.
Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya questioned the state authorities on why no criminal case had been formally instituted despite the prolonged detention.
The state’s representative was unable to offer a satisfactory explanation for the procedural lapse.
Directives and future proceedings
Ordering an immediate halt to any repatriation attempts, the division bench ruled that the family must not be pushed across the border under any circumstances at this stage.
In addition to ordering their production before a magistrate within 24 hours, the court directed the West Bengal government to submit a comprehensive status report to the regular bench following the conclusion of the Puja vacation, after which further legal determinations will be made.
The case echoes the high-profile incident from June last year involving Sonali Bibi, a resident of Birbhum district who was allegedly pushed into Bangladesh by Delhi Police via the Assam border before securing her return to India after a year-long legal struggle.
