'India is not a dharamshala': Supreme Court to Sri Lankan national seeking refuge in India

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday said that India is not a dharamshala (free shelter) that can accept refugees from all over the world, while refusing a Sri Lankan national's plea for refuge.

The bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice K Vinod Chandran made these remarks while hearing a petition by a Sri Lankan national, who was arrested in 2015. He was arrested on suspicion of being linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a terrorist organisation once active in Sri Lanka.

The man told the Supreme Court that he had come to India with a visa and that his life was in danger in his home country.

Additionally, he said that his wife and children were settled in India and that he had been under detention for nearly three years now and the deportation process had not begun.

"Is India to host refugees from all over the world? We are struggling with 140 crore. This is not a dharamshala that we can entertain foreign nationals from all over," Justice Datta said in response.

Earlier in 2018, a trial court sentenced him to 10 years  after he was convicted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Later, the Madras High Court in 2022, reduced his sentence to seven years. However, the court asked him to leave the country as soon as his sentence was over and stay in a refugee camp before his deportation.

The petitioner's counsel had argued the matter under the Constitution's Article 21 (protection of life and liberty) and Article 19, which grants fundamental rights, including freedom of speech and movement.

Justice Datta said the petitioner's detention does not violate Article 21 because he was taken into custody as per law. The court pointed out that Article 19 is available only to Indian citizens. "What is your right to settle here?" the court asked. When the petitioner's counsel stressed that he was a refugee and his life was in danger in Sri Lanka, the court asked him to move to another country.