CUTTACK: Taking cognisance of a PIL alleging illegal immigration into the state, the Orissa High Court has directed the Odisha government to place further details on record regarding steps taken to identify such people.
The PIL has been filed by Shivsankar Mohanty, a practising advocate of the Orissa High Court. Mohanty alleged that there has been mass illegal immigration from a neighbouring country, with such immigrants continuing to reside in the state after fraudulently procuring Indian identification documents. The petition stated that the presence of illegal immigrants posed serious concerns for national security, public safety and the rule of law.
An affidavit filed by the state revealed that 2,259 suspects were verified, out of which, most of the people were found to be Indian nationals and others, who could not provide any evidence of the Indian nationality, have been put into the clutches of the law with steps taken for deportation to their country.
Appearing for the state, additional government advocate Debasish Tripathy informed the court that verification and identification exercises had already been undertaken in some districts of Odisha. He submitted that the state government had taken additional steps on a wider scale and intended to place those details before the court in the ongoing PIL proceedings.
Taking note of the submission, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice MS Raman directed the government to file a supplementary affidavit within two weeks, detailing the measures undertaken and the current status of any such verification drives. The bench ordered that the matter be listed for further hearing on February 10.
According to the petitioner, illegal immigrants have managed to obtain voter identity cards and other official identification papers through fraudulent means, thereby posing serious concerns over national security, demographic balance and integrity of electoral processes. He urged the court to direct the government to undertake an extensive exercise to identify such illegal immigrants and deport them to their country of origin.