West Bengal woman deported to Bangladesh after SIR deletion; son moves Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Central government on a plea by the son of a West Bengal woman who was pushed into Bangladesh after her name was deleted from the electoral roll during the recently concluded special intensive revision (SIR).

A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing a petition seeking directions to bring back the woman, Sahida Fakir, to India.

Sahida was allegedly detained by police in Mumbai, kept in custody for over 100 hours without being produced before a Magistrate, and then pushed into Bangladesh by the Border Security Force (BSF).

Senior Advocate S Muralidhar appeared for the petitioner.

The petition, filed by Fakir's son, said that she is a permanent resident of Gobindapur in North 24 Parganas district and that her grandfather's name appears in the 1952 electoral roll and her parents' names in the 2002 roll.

Fakir moved to Mumbai about 20 years ago and worked as a domestic worker. On July 19 this year, persons in plain clothes, who identified themselves as police personnel, took her to a holding centre in Chembur and seized her Aadhaar card and phone without a receipt.

"No competent authority had, prior to the deprivation of her liberty, conducted a fair inquiry into her nationality, examined her documentary records, afforded her notice of the allegation against her, or given her an effective opportunity to establish her Indian citizenship," it was submitted.

After about five days, she was handed over to the BSF, flown towards the north-eastern region and pushed across the border into Bangladesh late at night along with around 20 other detainees. She remains in temporary shelter there, it was pointed.

The petitioner contended that the deletion of her name from the electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) does not amount to a determination of her citizenship and appeal against the deletion is pending.