Guwahati, Dec 15 (UNI): In a significant judgment, the Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to decide on a plea moved by the members of a Rohingya family requesting either refugee status in India or deportation to their country of origin.
“It has been submitted that the present petitioners are admittedly citizens of Myanmar who have been convicted for entering this country without proper documentation and had served out sentences imposed by the competent court and have been languishing in jail for the last seven years,” a bench comprising Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice Malasri Nandi observed in a court order recently.
The petitioners — Saidur Rahman, his wife Tahara Begum and their three children, his brother Mahmad Ulla, his wife Rumana Begum and their three children — are all original residents of Coundang village under Buthidaung police station of Rakhine state in Myanmar and currently lodged in a jail in Tezpur, Assam.
The petitioners had first approached the court in 2017, seeking either refugee status in India or deportation to Myanmar.
The matter has now been listed for further hearing on December 16 after the special counsel, appearing for the foreigners’ tribunal, sought some more time to take instructions on the course of action to be taken by the Assam government.
