NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict in a 2013 case on the issue of detention of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
A two-judge bench led by Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan expressed its disappointment for illegal immigrants being made to suffer the rigour of prisons despite having served sentence convictions.
"What is the idea of keeping hundreds of illegal immigrants in detention camps/ correctional homes for an indefinite period? The Union of India owes an answer to this question," it expressed.
The apex court made it clear in its order that if an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh has been apprehended and convicted under the Foreigners Act, of 1946, then they should be immediately deported to their native country after their period of sentence.
The bench in its order noted that there are over 850 illegal migrants were detained in correctional homes and sought to know the exact present figures.
The Court also slammed the State of West Bengal for not having correctional homes/detention centres, which housed illegal immigrants languishing in jails.
The case was filed by Maja Daruwala against the Union of India and the case was transferred from the Calcutta High Court to the apex court.