HC awaits apex court decision for migrants before deciding on WB natives

Observing that as the Supreme Court is seized of the condition of migrant labourers stranded in Maharashtra, the Bombay high court has said that it will await further

Observing that as the Supreme Court is seized of the condition of migrant labourers stranded in Maharashtra, the Bombay high court has said that it will await further orders of the apex court before addressing the concerns of the petitioners. The petitioner has claimed that nearly 56,000 migrants wanting to go back to West Bengal are stranded as the state government is not providing sufficient special trains and buses for the same.

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The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Anuja Prabhudessai while hearing the public interest litigation filed by Centre for Indian Trade Union and others was informed by senior advocate Gayatri Singh that though the state in an earlier hearing had submitted that it had sent back all migrants desirous of going back to their hometowns and as there was no further demand it was not arranging Shramik special trains, there remained migrants especially those wanting to go to West Bengal who were still stranded.

Singh drew the attention of the bench to a Supreme Court order relating to migrants especially those in Maharashtra and said that as nearly 56,000 migrants wanted to go back to West Bengal the court should direct the state to arrange for the same.

However, advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni informed the court that the last time a Shramik special train had been arranged for West Bengal it had very few migrants on it and hence there was no point in arranging for more trains.

After hearing the submissions, the court observed that as the state was asked to respond to the interim applications filed by two organisations in the petition before the SC it was not keen on passing any orders. The court also made an observation on the condition in WB due to the Covid outbreak.

“We do not consider it appropriate to pass any order at this stage for facilitating movement of alleged stranded migrant labours to West Bengal, as prayed for by Singh. In our view, it would only be just and appropriate not to dispose of the PIL at this stage and to await further orders that might be passed by the Supreme Court in respect of migrant labours,” said the chief justice and posted the PIL for hearing in the first week of August.