‘Already struggling with 140 crore’: Supreme Court to Sri Lankan seeking stay on deportation
The Supreme Court on Monday said that India is not a “dharmashala” (free shelter) that can accommodate refugees all over the world while already struggling to support a population of 140 crore people.
The bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice K Vinod Chandran made this remark while dismissing a plea by a Sri Lankan seeking a stay on his deportation. He had undergone imprisonment recently under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, according to LiveLaw.
The petitioner was arrested in 2015 for his alleged links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a group which fought the Sri Lankan government in a decades-long civil war to establish a separate country for the country’s linguistic Tamil minorities. The LTTE is designated as a terrorist organisation by the Indian government.
The individual was convicted by a trial court in 2018 under the UAPA. The Madras High Court slashed his jail term to seven years from ten, and asked him to leave the country as soon as his prison term was over.
The man, now detained at a refugee camp for three years, approached the top court claiming a threat to his life if he returns to Sri Lanka. Stating that he came to India on a proper visa, he explained that his wife and children are now “settled” in India.
The petitioner also cited the alleged delay in his deportation process while seeking a stay of it from the apex court, the report said.
‘Not a dharmashala’
Responding to his plea, Justice Datta said, “Is India to host refugees from all over the world? We are struggling with 140 crore. This is not a dharmashala that we can entertain foreign nationals from all over.”
The apex court also rejected the petitioner’s claim to fundamental rights under Articles 19 and 21 of the Indian Constitution, stating that he was taken into custody as per law.
The bench also pointed out that Article 19 (including freedom of speech, expression, and movement) is only available to Indian citizens. All fundamental rights of Indian citizens are subject to reasonable restrictions.
“What is your right to settle here?” the report quoted the court asking, while asking him to move to another country if his life was in danger in Sri Lanka.