Ranchi, Oct 13 (PTI) Expressing concern over the presence of foreign nationals without proper documentation in the country, the Jharkhand High Court has directed the Union and state governments to ensure the expeditious deportation of three Bangladeshis.
Justice Sanjay Prasad passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by Md Najmul Hawaldar, who challenged his conviction under the Foreigners Act by a lower court and the sentence of two years’ imprisonment imposed on June 19, 2024.
The high court directed the governments of Jharkhand and West Bengal, as well as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), to take steps for the immediate deportation of Hawaldar and other foreign nationals and submit a compliance report by November 25.
Hawaldar had confessed that he had illegally entered India by crossing the Sylhet border after paying Rs 20,000 to a person named Mohammed Sagar in January 2023.
He worked as a scrap collector in Delhi, after which he came to Rajmahal in Jharkhand’s Sahebganj district and was picked up by the police on February 24, 2023.
The high court had reserved its order on June 17 and pronounced it on September 29. The order was made available on Tuesday.
The Jharkhand High Court observed that several communications had taken place between the state government, the West Bengal government and the MEA regarding Hawaldar’s deportation.
He was taken to the foreigners’ detention centre in Hazaribagh, where he met two Bangladeshi women who had also been staying illegally in India.
The three tried to escape from the centre and were apprehended by the police on June 9, 2025.
The court observed that the government should be more proactive in dealing with the deportation of foreigners without documents.
The bench also observed that there had been deliberate suppression of facts by the High Commission of Bangladesh, which, when contacted, had denied that Hawaldar was a resident of Bangladesh.
The court observed that “people like Hawaldar are taking food and shelter in this country at the cost of taxpayers’ money and poor people of the country. If they are allowed to remain in jail till the conclusion of trial, they will be a burden not only on the state but also on society and the entire country.” PTI CORR NN
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