THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Ranchi, Sept. 20: The Jharkhand High Court today reserved its verdict on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a probe into alleged Bangladeshi infiltration in the Santhal Pargana, comprising six districts.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai reserved its decision after hearing arguments from both the petitioner and the state government.
Kapil Sibal dubs PIL as politically motivated
During the hearing, senior Supreme Court lawyer Kapil Sibal, who appeared virtually on behalf of the Jharkhand government, argued that the issue is being politicised ahead of the forthcoming state Assembly elections. He said the PIL petitioner is an office-bearer of the BJP in Jamshedpur.
He stated that the affidavit filed by the Central government lacks concrete data on the presence of Bangladeshi intruders in Jharkhand. He also pointed out that a related case is pending in the Supreme Court.
He also objected to the formation of a fact-finding committee in this regard.
The high court, however, questioned whether forming a committee to investigate the matter would pose any problem.
Appearing on behalf of the Centre, Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta presented data from the last Census, which shows a decline in the tribal population in the Santhal Pargana region.
Centre, State to meet on September 30
Earlier, the Bureau of Immigration under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, filed an affidavit proposing the formation of a fact-finding committee, jointly constituted by the central and state governments, to investigate the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration in Santhal Pargana. “A meeting between the Union Home Secretary and the Chief Secretary of Jharkhand is scheduled for September 30 to discuss the matter,” it added.
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“The purpose of the fact-finding committee will be to decide on the modalities to identify the illegal infiltrators in the bordering districts of Jharkhand i.e. Deoghar, Godda, Sahibganj, Pakur, Dumka and Jamtara and arrange for the deportation of such illegal immigrants. The composition of this committee will be decided in the proposed meeting between the Jharkhand Chief Secretary and the Union Home Secretary,” the Centre said.
Mandate of proposed fact-finding committee
“The proposed committee’s mandate would include identifying illegal immigrants in Deoghar, Godda, Sahibganj, Pakur, Dumka, and Jamtara, and providing recommendations on their repatriation,” the central government stated.
The PIL was filed by Jamshedpur resident Danyaal Danish, who claimed that Bangladeshi infiltrators are entering Jharkhand through border areas such as Jamtara, Pakur, Godda, and Sahibganj, adversely affecting the demographic composition of these districts.
In its reply filed in the Jharkhand High Court on the last date, the Central Government revealed that the tribal population in the region has decreased by 16 per cent.
Share of scheduled tribe’s population
The Centre also informed the high court that the share of the scheduled tribe’s population decreased to 28.11 per cent from 44.67 per cent. “On the other hand, the share of the Muslim community increased by 4.31 per cent at the national level, and the number in Santhal Pargana increased by 13.3 per cent,” it said, adding the Christian population has increased by over 6000 times since 1951.
