New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on June 2 a plea filed by a 26-year-old man, alleging the illegal detention of his mother by Assam Police, amid claims of covert deportations to Bangladesh.
A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices Augustine George Masih and A S Chandurkar acknowledged the submissions of senior advocate Shoeb Alam, representing petitioner Iunuch (Yunus) Ali, regarding his mother’s detention.
The CJI said the plea would be listed for hearing on Monday.
Ali has urged the immediate release of his mother, Monowara Bewa, who was reportedly detained on May 24 after being summoned to the Dhubri police station under the pretext of recording a statement.
Senior advocate Shoeb Alam has voiced serious concerns over what he describes as an ongoing practice in Assam, where individuals are detained and deported to Bangladesh overnight, even while their legal cases remain unresolved.
"There is a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the lady in 2017. Notices have been issued, and yet people are being deported while proceedings are still ongoing before this court," he said.
"There are several videos circulating that show individuals being picked up overnight and pushed back across the border," he added.
Monowara Bewa had been on bail since December 12, 2019, following a Supreme Court order that permitted the conditional release of detainees who had spent over three years in Assam's foreigner detention camps.
According to the plea, when petitioner Iunuch (Yunus) Ali approached the Dhubri police station the next day to inform officials that their case was still pending before the Supreme Court, he was denied access to his mother, and her release was refused.
The petition challenges the Gauhati High Court's decision, which upheld a Foreigners Tribunal ruling declaring Bewa a foreigner—a judgement that has remained under challenge before the Supreme Court since 2017.
The plea seeks a directive for Bewa’s immediate release from "unlawful detention" at Dhubri police station and calls for an order restraining her deportation or "push back" across any Indian border.
(inputs from PTI)