SC notice to Centre on allowing illegal migrants from Bangladesh to stay in Tripura

The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Centre and Tripura on a plea challenging 2015 amendment to the Passport Rules and the Foreigner Order that allowed people of minority community who have illegally entered India to stay back in India to escape persecution in Bangladesh. The bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna sought the response from the Centre and Tripura on a plea by Tripura People's Front contending that the "uncontrolled influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh into Tripura" has caused a huge demographic change.

Seeking striking down of the amendment to the Passport Rules and the Foreigners Order, the petitioner organisations have contended that due to influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh, the "indigenous people who were once the majority have now become a minority in their own land." The petitioner has challenged Passport (Entry into India) Amendment Rulkes, 2015 and the Foreigners (Amendment) Order, 2015, both issued on September 7, 2015.

Seeking the striking down of both the amendment to Passport Rules and Foreigners Order, the petitioner organisations have described it as "discriminatory, arbitrary and illegal."