NEW DELHI: Days after rebuffing Rohingya Muslims’ plea against deportation , the Supreme Court on Monday rejected a Sri Lankan national’s plea to settle in India after completing his seven-year imprisonment sentence under UAPA and said the country struggling with 140 crore population cannot be a ‘dharamshala’ (free shelter) for foreign nationals.
The Sri Lankan national was arrested in 2015 for his links with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist organization decimated by the Sri Lankan Army. A Tamil Nadu trial court had convicted him under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2018 and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment.
However, the Madras HC in 2022 had reduced the sentence to seven years and ordered that he must stay in a Tamil refugee camp after completion of prison term and be deported as soon as possible.
On Monday his lawyer pleaded that his wife and children have settled in India and that he too wished to settle in India as he has already served seven years in prison. He also said that the Sri Lankan had a right to life and right to move freely.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and K Vinod Chandran disagreed and said the Lankan had the right to life but not the right to residence or settle in India. “Is India a dharamshala to host refugees from all over the world? We are struggling with a 140 crore population. India is not a dharamshala to entertain foreign nationals from all over.”
When petitioner’s counsel said that his life would be endangered if he is deported to Sri Lanka as he was part of LTTE. The bench suggested that he could move to some other country. “What is your right to settle here,” Justice Datta asked.
On May 8, a three-judge bench of Justices Surya Kant, Datta and N Kotiswar Singh had raised similar queries when senior advocates Colin Gonsalves and Prashant Bhushan had pleaded for a stay on deportation of Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar by India. The bench had questioned their right to settle in India. “Right to residence is only for Indian citizens. It is not available to foreigners,” the bench had said.
The Sri Lankan national was arrested in 2015 for his links with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist organization decimated by the Sri Lankan Army. A Tamil Nadu trial court had convicted him under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2018 and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment.
However, the Madras HC in 2022 had reduced the sentence to seven years and ordered that he must stay in a Tamil refugee camp after completion of prison term and be deported as soon as possible.
On Monday his lawyer pleaded that his wife and children have settled in India and that he too wished to settle in India as he has already served seven years in prison. He also said that the Sri Lankan had a right to life and right to move freely.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and K Vinod Chandran disagreed and said the Lankan had the right to life but not the right to residence or settle in India. “Is India a dharamshala to host refugees from all over the world? We are struggling with a 140 crore population. India is not a dharamshala to entertain foreign nationals from all over.”
When petitioner’s counsel said that his life would be endangered if he is deported to Sri Lanka as he was part of LTTE. The bench suggested that he could move to some other country. “What is your right to settle here,” Justice Datta asked.
On May 8, a three-judge bench of Justices Surya Kant, Datta and N Kotiswar Singh had raised similar queries when senior advocates Colin Gonsalves and Prashant Bhushan had pleaded for a stay on deportation of Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar by India. The bench had questioned their right to settle in India. “Right to residence is only for Indian citizens. It is not available to foreigners,” the bench had said.
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