Bengaluru: Way back in 2017, Ashwini Upadhyay, an advocate filed a petition (PIL) in the Supreme Court in relation to deportation of illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.

The petitioner sought the top court to issue directions to the concerned to deport the illegal immigrants within a span of one year.

The court is still hearing the petition and issued a notice to Union home ministry and chief secretaries in this regard.

Ashwin Upadhyay said, “On the 10th of this month, the top court issued notice to the Union home ministry and chief secretaries of all states and Union territories. The next hearing is on March 18.”

The presence of a large number of Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingyas is perceived to be of serious threat to the security of the country, especially in states like Kerala, which is considered to be a repository of illegal activities.

It is also of importance to note what the petition filed in 2016 notes:

“In August 2016, a native of west Bengal was arrested in Kerala, for insulting the national flag and he was later found to be an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh. There is said to be major racket at the borders of West Bengal and Assam with Bangladesh, which provides illegal migrants with identity cards. Even Kerala police are reportedly finding it difficult to check the influx of these Bangladeshi illegal migrants.”

The PIL also mentioned the grave threat posed by Rohingyas:

“Rohingyas with militant background are found to be very active in Jammu, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mewat, and have been identified as having a very serious and potential threat to the internal and national security of India,” the PIL further read.

Extending its worries to forging important documents, the PIL also sought making of forged or fabricated PAN Cards, Aadhaar Cards, Passport, Ration Cards or Voter Cards a non-bailable, non-compoundable and cognisable offence and seeks to amend the laws too, as reported by News 18.