J and K govt withdraws a former petition against illegal Rohingyas in HC to allow their deportation after SC order

Representational image (Photo Credits: Indian Express)

A day after the Supreme Court denied interim relief to illegal Rohingyas immigrants detained in Jammu, the Secretary to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has decided to withdraw a petition pending before the J&K High Court, reported Bar and Bench.

As per the report, a petition by the Jammu and Kashmir had been pending before the High Court seeking deportation of Rohingyas to their home country. The case was filed at Satwari police station in Jammu under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Section 561A in 2018. Titled “State of Jammu and Kashmir v. Abdul Hameed and Others”, it was filed against Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.

The Secretary to the government Anchal Sethi has directed the Additional Advocate General Aseem Sawhney to initiate steps to withdraw the case from the J&K High Court. In a statement to Bar and Bench, AAG Sawhney said, “The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has requested me to withdraw cases filed by the government in High Court Jammu wing against Bangladeshi national and Rohingyas to enable these foreign nationals to be deported back.”

SC allows deportation of Rohingyas if proper procedure is followed

On Thursday (April 8), the Supreme Court denied granting interim relief to the detained Rohingyas while hearing a petition filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan, challenging the detention of illegal Rohingya immigrants in Jammu and deporting the illegal immigrants back to their home country of Myanmar. A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde, Justices AS Bopanna, and V Ramasubramaniam passed the order in an application moved by Mohammad Salimullah, who was represented by Prashant Bhushan, in a PIL filed for the sake of protecting illegal Rohingya immigrants from detention.

“It is not possible to grant the interim relief. However it is made clear that the Rohingyas in Jammu on whose behalf the application has been moved shall not be deported unless the procedure prescribed for such deportation is followed”, the Supreme Court said. The Court did not order the release of illegal Rohingya immigrants detained in holding centers in Jammu and instead allowed their deportation back to their parent country of Myanmar, as per the procedure established by law.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia