After Supreme Court nudge, Centre says pregnant woman, son deported to Bangladesh will be brought back to India

The Central government on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that a pregnant woman and her eight-year-old son who were deported out of the country earlier this year on suspicions of being Bangladeshis will be brought back to India [Union of India v. Bhodu Sheikh].

The Court had previously asked the Centre to consider allowing their return to India on humanitarian grounds.

The woman and her son were picked up from Delhi in June and deported to Bangladesh, where they were then arrested on allegations of being illegal immigrants. They were reportedly released on bail by a Bangladeshi court on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, had asked whether the Indian government would consider allowing the return of the mother and son back to India on strictly humanitarian grounds.

Solicitor General of India (SG) Tushar Mehta today informed the Bench that the pregnant woman, Sonali and her eight-year-old son Sabir would be brought back to India.

"She is a Bangladeshi but her place here is mentioned as Birbhum (district in West Bengal)," the SG said.

Justice Bagchi proceeded to note that the woman’s claim for Indian citizenship could be determined by establishing her parentage.

“If she can establish biological connection with Bhodu Sheikh (father), then she can claim to be an Indian citizen and through her, the son also becomes Indian,” he said.

Sonali Khatun, a resident of Paikar in the Birbhum district, West Bengal, was detained in Delhi earlier this year along with her husband and their young son after authorities suspected them of being Bangladeshi nationals.

She was pregnant at the time and is reportedly in her ninth month of pregnancy now.

Within around two days of their detention, the family was taken to the Bangladesh border and handed over to officials there following directions issued by agencies responsible for handling suspected foreign nationals.

Her father, Bhodu Sheikh, subsequently moved the Calcutta High Court, asserting that his daughter, her husband and their child are Indian citizens with longstanding roots in Birbhum. The petition was supported by land records, identification documents of older family members and the boy’s birth certificate.

On September 26, the High Court ruled that the deportation violated mandatory procedures, including the Union government's 30-day verification process.

The High Court, therefore, cancelled the deportation order and directed the Centre to bring back six people including Sonali, her husband, their child and three others, within four weeks, noting that they had been removed without proper verification.

The Centre challenged this directive before the Supreme Court, which will hear the matter next on December 10.

[Live Coverage]