The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that it would bring back five people deported to Bangladesh last year and examine their claim that they are Indian citizens.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the decision was being taken in the “peculiar facts and circumstances of the case”, and the government would arrange their return within the next 10 days, according to the submissions recorded by the court.
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Supreme Court today heard the matter concerning alleged Indian nationals deported to Bangladesh in Union vs Bhodu Shekh.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Court that the Centre has received instructions and will bring the individuals back to India to ascertain their… pic.twitter.com/pLZ9cz1X6h
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A cautious nod from the highest bench
Mehta made the statement before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi.
The bench recorded the government’s assurance and posted the matter for hearing in July. The court also noted the Centre’s position that the move should not be treated as a precedent in other similar matters.
The matter grows rather tangled
The case stems from a September 26 order of the Calcutta High Court, which had set aside the deportation of six people and directed the government to bring them back from Bangladesh.
The group included Sunali Khatun, her husband and their son, along with another woman, Sweety Bibi, and her two sons. The families, who were staying in Delhi and working as house help, have maintained that they belong to West Bengal’s Birbhum district.
“I was scared that my child’s nationality would change if he was born in Bangladesh,” says a heavily pregnant Sunali Khatun, 25, who returned to India earlier this month after being deported to the neighbouring country in June.https://t.co/eErmjZoYkx
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A pause for compassion
One of the six, Sunali Khatun, returned to India in December with her eight-year-old son after the Supreme Court intervened on humanitarian grounds.
At the time, she was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and later gave birth at a hospital in West Bengal’s Birbhum district. The Union government had told the court then that her return would be without prejudice to its stand on the merits of the case.
The Calcutta High Court had criticised the deportation process, saying the authorities acted in “hot haste” and that the procedure laid out in a May 2025 home ministry memo was not followed.
The high court found no evidence of an “emergent” situation and said the deportation order was liable to be set aside because the affected people were denied a proper hearing.
