Crime Today News
The Supreme Court on Monday said the country was not a dharamshala (a public shelter) to accommodate refugees from across the world.
The Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice K Vinod Chandran made this oral observation, while rejecting a petition filed by a Sri Lankan national facing deportation.
The petitioner challenged a Madras High Court order, which directed him to leave India immediately after completing a seven-year prison term under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
Petitioner Subaskaran was arrested in 2015 on allegations of being part of a conspiracy to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant organisation that worked to set up an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka.
A trial court at Ramanathapuram convicted him under various provisions of the UAPA, the Passport Act, the Foreigners Act, the Poisons Act, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2018. He was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court reduced his sentence in 2022 to seven years on appeal. The High Court further ordered him to leave India without delay after he was released from prison, adding that he could remain in a refugee camp until then.
Following the High Court verdict, Subaskaran’s wife approached the Tamil Nadu government, seeking his release from the Trichy Special Camp and permission to live peacefully with his family without forcing him to leave India.
When her representation did not yield any response from the state government, she moved the High Court seeking directions to prevent her husband’s deportation. The High Court dismissed her plea.
Subaskaran then moved the Apex Court. The petitioner contended that he was falsely and arbitrarily implicated in the UAPA case.
Representing the Sri Lankan national, Advocate R Sudhakaran argued that the petitioner would face torture if he were deported to Sri Lanka. The Counsel requested the top Court of the country to allow Subaskaran to remain in India, adding that he could live in a refugee camp indefinitely.
The Bench, however, refused to intervene, stating that if Subaskaran’s life was at risk in Sri Lanka, he may seek refugee status in some other country.
This article first appeared on India Legal
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