Centre, 5 states to file affidavits on immigrants

New Delhi, July 12: The Supreme Court on Monday gave six weeks time to the Centre and the governments of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura to file affidavits on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking repatriation of over one crore Bangladeshi migrants illegally staying in India. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice AS Anand, justice M Jagannadha Rao and justice Santosh N Hedge, while giving the time, observed that matter was of serious nature and the States and the Centre should not delay it further. The PIL filed by All India Lawyers Forum for Civil Liberties through its President OP Saxena had alleged that over one crore Bangladeshi migrants have illegally crossed over to India and were causing severe strain on the resources of poor northeastern States as well as West Bengal. It has sought a direction from the court to the Centre to identify these Bangladeshi nationals and repatriate them with the help of National Human Right Commission (NHRC) and other agencies. The Centre, in its earlier affidavit, had admitted that there was large-scale illegal migration from Bangladesh and had put the number unofficial between 1.2 to 1.8 crore.