Indian SC Questions Pushback of Woman Declared Bangladeshi
The Supreme Court of India on Monday issued a notice to the Centre, seeking its response to a petition filed by a man whose mother, Monowara Bewa, was allegedly deported to Bangladesh despite her appeal against a Foreigners Tribunal order still pending before the apex court since 2017.
Bewa had previously been declared a foreigner by the Dhubri Foreigners Tribunal on March 17, 2016, a decision later upheld by the Gauhati High Court in February 2017. Her son, Iunuch Ali, challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, where the matter has remained unresolved for the past eight years.
Following a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that prohibited the indefinite detention of foreigners and required either their deportation or release on bail, Bewa was released from custody in December 2019. However, she was detained again on May 24, 2025, amid a crackdown on undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants triggered by recent security incidents, including a terror attack in Pahalgam and military operations near the Pakistan border.
Ali's petition alleges that his mother was forcibly taken by Dhubri police and unlawfully "pushed back" across the international border into Bangladesh, bypassing established legal procedures.
The petition emphasizes that Indian law does not recognize the practice of "push back" — forcibly transporting foreign nationals to the border and expelling them without due verification or acceptance by the receiving country. It asserts that such actions amount to an illegal and unconstitutional process.
The petitioner further raised concerns over the legality of her detention and questioned whether she was produced before a magistrate before being allegedly deported.
The Supreme Court, taking note of the concerns regarding her whereabouts and the legality of the procedures followed, asked the Centre to clarify the current status of Monowara Bewa.
The matter has drawn attention to the broader issue of how suspected undocumented migrants are treated, particularly in the context of deportation, due process, and constitutional protections under Articles 19 and 21.
