A plea was moved in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to restrain the Centre from deporting to Myanmar seven Rohingyas lodged in a detention centre at Silchar in Assam.
A bench, headed by new Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, which made it clear to lawyers at the outset that it will not allow urgent mentioning of matters till the framing of "parameters" on such cases, said that it would take a decision on urgent hearing in this issue after perusing the application.
The bench, also comprising Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph, was told by lawyer Prashant Bhushan that some Rohingya refugees were on the verge of being deported and the matter required urgent hearing.
"No mentioning. We will work out the parameters then we will see as to how mentioning will be done," the bench said, adding that matters like execution of a death row convict, eviction cases can be heard urgently.
Initially, the bench asked Bhushan to file the plea and on being told that the application has already been filed, it said, "We will peruse the file and then decide".
The plea has been filed to challenge the decision by the Centre to deport seven Rohingya immigrants, who have been staying in Assam illegally.
Rohingyas Being Deported for the First Time
Seven Rohingya immigrants, who have been staying in Assam illegally, will be deported to their home country Myanmar on Thursday, officials had said in New Delhi.
This is the first time that Rohingya immigrants would be sent back to Myanmar from India.
Seven Rohingya immigrants will be handed over to Myanmar authorities at Moreh border post in Manipur on Thursday, a home ministry official said.
The illegal immigrants have been staying at a detention centre in Silchar, Assam, since 2012, when they were detained by the police.
Consular access had been given to Myanmar diplomats, who confirmed the identity of the immigrants, the official said.
Another official said the confirmation of the Myanmarese citizenship of the illegal immigrants came after the government of the neighbouring country verified their addresses in Rakhine State.
The Indian government told Parliament last year that more than 14,000 Rohingya people, registered with the UN refugee agency UNHCR, stay in India. However, aid agencies estimate there are about 40,000 Rohingya people in the country.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims, described by the UN as the most persecuted minority in the world, fled their homes last year to escape an alleged crackdown by the Myanmarese military.
Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the country's government have been blamed for the mass exodus.
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