Ranchi. The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday asked the Center to explain whether action can be taken against illegal immigrants from Bangladesh living in the Santhal Pargana region of the state under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The court’s direction came when it was hearing a PIL seeking direction to the central government to take action under the CAA against Bangladeshis who entered the state illegally.
The CAA was recently implemented to grant citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. A division bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Roy was hearing a PIL filed by Daniel Danish in which the issue of infiltration of Bangladeshi citizens into the state has been raised.
The petitioner claimed that the illegal immigrants are living in Sahibganj, Pakur, Godda, Jamtara and Dumka districts of Santhal Pargana region of the state. In his petition, Danish alleged that these immigrants were setting up madrassas and settlements in five districts and harassing the local tribal population.
The petitioner said that under the CAA, the Center has the right to take action in the matter and not the state government. The bench directed central government counsel Prashant Pallav to take instructions in the matter and file an affidavit to clarify the Centre’s stand. The next hearing of this case will be on May 3. The High Court had earlier directed the Union Home Ministry to explain how illegal immigrants from the neighboring country are entering India.
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Tags: CAA, Jharkhand High Court
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 9, 2024, 22:46 IST