New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Tuesday asked the Centre to share in a sealed cover its office memorandum pertaining to the deportation of illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Justice Rekha Palli passed the order after she was informed by central government counsel Dev Prakash Bhardwaj that the document was confidential in nature. “What is so confidential? Just because you appear for the Union you have the habit of saying confidential,” the court remarked.
Bhardwaj then submitted that the document could be shared with the court in a sealed cover, although he himself had not seen it. The court was hearing a petition by three people claiming to be Bangladeshi nationals who seek to be repatriated to their country. The three, one of whom is a minor, assert that it is unclear as to how they reached here and were presently residing in a night shelter.
Advocate Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, representing them, submitted that his clients may be allowed leave and the petition be disposed of. The court, however, responded, “This is not so easy. I can't pass such a simple order.” Bhardwaj said that there was a procedure to be followed in such cases and they have to first get an “exit permit” from the Embassy of Bangladesh. In its affidavit filed in response to the petition, the Home Ministry and Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO), Delhi, stated that since the foreign nationals here do not possess any travel documents such as visas or any document to prove their identity, they were illegal migrants who could be repatriated to their home country only after their nationality is confirmed.
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