Calcutta HC issues interim stay on deportation of Rohingya couple to Myanmar.

Source – indianexpress.com

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered an interim stay on the deportation of a Rohingya couple to Myanmar. It also said that in order to “uphold the spirit of humanity”, the state government should provide basic amenities to the couple to help them live with dignity.

In an order issued on December 24, a bench headed by Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya stayed their deportation until the disposal of a writ petition that was filed on behalf of Abdur Sukur alias Adi Sukur and his wife Anowara Begam on December 18.

Abdur and Anowara are lodged in Dum Dum jail for the last two years. They had entered India in 2017. The court directed the state government and Union of India to file an affidavit by January 10, and the petitioners to reply by January 17. The matter will be heard again on January 20.

“In view of the imminent plight of the petitioners, who, despite having basic human rights in consonance with the Fundamental Rights provided by the Constitution of India as well as the U.N. Charter and the norms of any civilized society, a minimum protection ought to be given to the petitioners till the writ petition is decided, in order to uphold the spirit of humanity, if not the Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution of India, which is the groundnorm of all Indian statutes.

Accordingly, the respondents are directed to file their affidavit(s)-in-opposition within January 10, 2020. Reply/replies, if any, shall be filed by the petitioners within January 17, 2020. The respondents shall be restrained by an order of injunction from deporting the petitioners from India during pendency of the writ petition,” read the order.

The couple, in the 64-page writ petition, said they did not want to be deported because they would face persecution. According to the submission by counsel Indrajeet Dey, deporting them to Myanmar would be tantamount to a death sentence.