Calcutta High Court to hear habeas corpus petitions alleging illegal detention of Bengal workers in Odisha and Delhi. Court reminds lawyer to focus only on his client’s case.
Kolkata: Today, on July 14, the Calcutta High Court has decided to hear two habeas corpus petitions on July 16 that allege migrant workers from West Bengal have been illegally detained in Odisha and Delhi.
A division bench led by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, along with Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra, was informed that two of the workers – Sainur Islam and Rakibul Islam – who were reportedly detained in Odisha, have now returned home. This information was given verbally by one of the lawyers during the hearing.
The court stated that the matter would now be taken up on July 16, and the hearing will include similar petitions about migrant workers from Bengal who are allegedly being held illegally in Delhi.
During the hearing, the petitioners’ lawyer, who was appearing virtually, claimed that many more migrant workers from West Bengal were being detained in Odisha.
In response, the division bench instructed the lawyer to focus only on the specific case concerning his clients and said,
“confine his submissions to his client’s case.”
The relatives of the two migrant workers, Sainur Islam and Rakibul Islam, had filed separate petitions alleging that the Odisha Police had illegally detained them in Jagatsinghpur district.
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These concerns led the High Court, in an earlier order dated July 11, to ask the Odisha government to submit relevant documents to clarify whether the two individuals were officially detained or if they had gone missing.
In that earlier order, the court had also instructed the Chief Secretary of West Bengal to work in coordination with his counterpart in Odisha to ensure the court’s directions were followed.
The court said that both governments must ensure that all relevant instructions and documents are submitted before the court on the next date of the hearing.
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Meanwhile, in a similar matter taken up last Friday, the Calcutta High Court had directed the Delhi administration to confirm whether certain migrant workers from Bengal were actually under detention in Delhi.
These cases were also filed as habeas corpus petitions, a legal remedy under which the court can direct the authorities to produce a person who is allegedly missing or illegally detained before the court.
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