India to bring back deportees from Bangladesh

India’s central government has informed the Supreme Court that it will repatriate several people who were allegedly pushed into Bangladesh last year to verify their claims of Indian citizenship.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Indian government, told a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant on Friday that the repatriation process would take around eight to ten days, according to The Telegraph.

“The government will bring them back and verify their nationality status. Further steps will be taken based on the findings,” Mehta was quoted as saying.

He also told the court that the decision had been taken in view of the special circumstances of the case and should not be treated as a precedent. The next hearing has been scheduled for July.

The case relates to six people, including pregnant woman Sunali Khatun and her eight-year-old child, who were allegedly detained in Delhi in June last year on suspicion of being undocumented Bangladeshi nationals and later pushed across the border into Bangladesh.

The Calcutta High Court, in an order dated 26 September 2025, declared the deportation illegal and directed the Indian government to bring them back within a month. The central government later challenged the order before the Supreme Court.

According to petitions filed by family members, the deportees had been working as daily wage earners in Delhi’s Rohini area for more than two decades. They were detained by Delhi police on 18 June last year and allegedly pushed into Bangladesh through the Kurigram border by the BSF on 27 June.

After entering Bangladesh, they were arrested by Bangladeshi law enforcement authorities for illegal trespass and sent to prison in August. A local court later granted them bail on humanitarian grounds in December and suggested exploring diplomatic channels for their repatriation.

Following flag meetings and diplomatic communication between BGB and BSF, the Calcutta High Court allowed Sunali and her child to re-enter India on humanitarian grounds on 3 December last year.

The High Court had observed that the deportation process was carried out in haste and violated official protocols.

It also noted that the detainees had relatives in West Bengal and said the authorities’ “overenthusiasm” in deporting them could create misunderstanding and disturb the judicial climate.