Supreme Court Reserves Orders On Plea Against Deportation of Rohingya Refugees In Jammu

The Supreme Court on Friday reserved for orders a plea seeking directions for release of the Rohingya refugees who have been detained in Jammu and to restrain the government from deporting them to Myanmar.A bench comprising CJI SA Bobde, Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramaniam was hearing an interim application filed by a PIL petitioner Mohammad Salimullah seeking protection of Rohinya refugees who came to India following persecution in Myanmar. In Court today, Advocate Prashant Bhushan vehemently sought to urge the Court that the Rohingyas in Jammu were in fact 'refugees' within the terms of the United Nations Convention on Refugees. To highlight that the Rohingyas were facing genocidal threat in Myanmar, he referred to the the order passed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year against Myanmar "This is a unanimous order of 15 judges of ICJ. The Court expressed concerns about genocide of Rohingyas of Rakhine state in Myanmar leading to their efflux from the country", Advocate Bhushan submitted in Court. To give context to the ICJ's ruling, Advocate Bhushan explained the events that led up to the military coup in Myanmar this year and its impact on the Rohingyas. "The ICJ judgment came when there was a civilian government in Myanmar. Even when there was a civilian govt, the UN Fact finding mission and ICJ found grave human rights violations against the Rohingya," he explained. Bhushan then referred to the findings in the ICJ order regarding presence of "genocidal intent" and "systematic oppression and violence" against the Rohingya in Myanmar, to emphasize the Rohingya were 'refugees' To these Solicitor General had stated, "Mr Bhushan is reading this to show that there is some trouble in a country called Myanmar. I don't object to that. But the question is, what to do with the refugees in this country." The Chief Justice then posed a question as to how the judgment was relevant to the present dispute. To this, Advocate Bhushan replied that the Government has detained more than 150 Rohingya refugees in Jammu. "Most of them have identity cards issued by UN Commissioner for Refugees", he said. The Chief Justice then asked if Article 32 can be invoked in the case : "You are invoking Article 32. Article 32 can be invoked only for citizens of India". Advocate Bhushan responded that he was invoking the Court's jurisdiction under Article 21 which could be even of non-citizens. As for the applicability of Article 32, Advocate Bhushan stated that it did not mention that it is only for citizens. It doesn't mention 'citizens', he said. He pointed that the Supreme Court has laid down in many precedents that Article 21 is available for non-citizens as well."I'm seeking writ of mandamus to Union and Jammu to release Rohingyas and not to deport them", he continued. The Chief Justice then asked, "So we have to examine the legality of the detention under the Foreigners Act?" Advocate Bhashan asserted that the Rohingyas formed a separate class called 'refugees.' Solicitor General Mehta appearing for the Centre asserted that the Rohingyas were not refugees and informed that this was the second round of litigation in this respect. "So earlier application was dismissed?", Chief Justice Bobde queried. "Yes. Only difference is now it is Jammu and earlier it was Assam", Solicitor General Tushar Mehta replied, referring to the order passed by the top court in October 2018. "Persons moving public interest petitions cannot suppress facts. I have preliminary objections…Similar application has been now filed by the same petitioner through the same lawyers", he continued. Asserting that the issue was primarily diplomatic, outside the judicial domain, the Solicitor General proceeded to explain the 'procedure established by law' followed when deporting Rohingyas. "They (Rohingyas) are illegal migrants. We confirm with Myanmar if they are its citizens. Then they are deported in accordance with law. This man(petitioner) is a resident of Delhi." To this the Chief Justice said, "Possibly that is the fear that if they go back to Myanmar they will be slaughtered. But we cannot control all that." Solicitor General further informed the bench that the Union was in the process of getting confirmation from Myanmar regarding the nationality of the detainees."India cannot be a capital for all illegal migrants of the world", the SG added.Principle of non-refoulement cited by petitionerBhushan also referred to the principle of "non-refoulement" which forbids the expulsion of refugee if there is a clear and certain danger of life in the origin country.Senior Advocate Harish Salve, who was intervening on behalf of the Jammu and Kashmir Government, and the Solicitor General said that India is not a party to the international conventions on this principle.Bhushan also said that the present government of Myanmar is "illegal" as it usurped power through a military coup."Will the word of an illegal government, will the...

Supreme Court Reserves Orders On Plea Against Deportation of Rohingya Refugees In Jammu

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