"Struggling with 140 crore people, not a dharamshala": Supreme Court rejects Sri Lankan Tamil's plea to stay in India

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has said that India is not a dharamshala (free shelter) to provide shelter to refugees from all over the world. The Supreme Court has rejected the petition of a Sri Lankan national who was sentenced to imprisonment under the UAPA for his LTTE links and was seeking permanent residence in India. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and K. Vinod Chandran considered the petition.

The Supreme Court was considering the petition of a Sri Lankan national who had challenged the Madras High Court's order asking him to leave India immediately after serving seven years in prison after being convicted in a UAPA case. The petitioner's lawyer told the court that he was a Sri Lankan national who had come to India on a visa and that his life was in danger in his own country. "Is India to host refugees from all over the world? We are struggling with 140 crore people… This is not a dharmshala that we can entertain foreign nationals from all over the world," the bench said. The bench asked the petitioner what right he had to settle in India and asked him to "go to some other country".

The lawyer said that the petitioner has been in detention for almost three years without any deportation proceedings. The lawyer pointed out that the petitioner is a refugee and his wife and children are currently residing in India. However, Justice Dutta said that the fundamental right to reside and settle in India under Article 19 applies only to Indian citizens.