Govt rapped over migrant issue

The Delhi High Court has accused the Delhi Government and the Centre of not doing enough despite its order, passed five years ago, to deport illegal Bangladeshi migrants from the capital.

The Delhi High Court has accused the Delhi Government and the Centre of not doing enough despite its order, passed five years ago, to deport illegal Bangladeshi migrants from the capital.

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A fresh status report has been sought in this regard.

The court had in 2003 asked the Delhi government to identify at least 100 migrants per day and deport them. But going by the Foreign Registration Regional Office’s reports periodically submitted in the court, the exercise has been a failure.

The reports reveal deportation of only 36,000 people from 1991 to 2008, while, according to official records, there are approximately 10 lakh Bangladeshi migrants in Delhi. It was not clear whether the names of the 36,000 people mentioned in the report had been deleted from the voters’ list.

A fresh update on the issue was sought by Justice G.S. Sistani on a petition by Delhi BJP leader Ved Vyas Mahajan alleging there were “six lakh bogus voters in Delhi” and the ruling party was trying to strengthen its vote bank by naturalising these immigrants as Indian citizens. He contended that the inaction by the state government brought about a demographic change in the national capital.

“The authorities are under pressure from the ruling political party and are deliberately going slow. The ruling regime is benefited by the presence of these immigrants who are their vote bank,” Mahajan’s lawyer Ashok Kashyap submitted before the court.

Justice Sistani asked the Government to file an affidavit “clearly mentioning the manner in which the exercise is being undertaken.”