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The Supreme Court on Friday declined to interfere with the detention of a Sri Lankan Tamil national, observing that India cannot be expected to host refugees from all over the world. Presiding over the bench, Justice Dipankar Datta remarked orally, “Is India to host refugees from all over the world? We are struggling with 140 crore. This is not a dharamshala that we can entertain foreign nationals from all over.” The bench also comprised Justice K Vinod Chandran.

The court was hearing a petition challenging a Madras High Court order which had directed that the petitioner, a convicted Sri Lankan Tamil national, must leave India immediately after serving a 7-year sentence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Live Law reported. The High Court had also ordered that the petitioner remain in a refugee camp until deportation.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that his client came to India on a visa and faced a serious threat to his life if deported back to Sri Lanka. It was also pointed out that the petitioner had remained in detention for nearly three years without any initiation of deportation proceedings. The counsel further stated that the petitioner’s wife and children were settled in India.

In response, Justice Datta asked, “What is your right to settle here?” and emphasised that the right to settle in India under Article 19 is reserved for Indian citizens only. He further said that there was no violation of Article 21 in the case, as the petitioner’s liberty had been curtailed according to the procedure established by law.

When the counsel reiterated that the petitioner faced a threat to his life in Sri Lanka, Justice Datta responded, “Go to some other country.”

This comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s recent refusal to halt the deportation of Rohingya refugees.

Madras High Court Ordered Petitioner's Removal From India In 2022

According to case records, the petitioner was arrested in 2015 by the Q Branch along with two others on suspicion of being an LTTE operative. He was convicted in 2018 under Section 10 of the UAPA and sentenced to 10 years in prison. In 2022, the Madras High Court reduced the sentence to seven years but ordered his immediate removal from the country post-release, the report stated.

The petitioner submitted that he had fought in the Sri Lankan civil war as an LTTE member in 2009, which led to him being blacklisted (“black-gazetted”) in Sri Lanka. He claimed that returning to Sri Lanka would result in arrest and torture. He also mentioned that his wife was suffering from multiple illnesses and his son was born with a congenital heart disease.

The petitioner was represented by Advocates R. Sudhakaran, S. Prabu Ramasubramanian, and Vairawan AS.