The Supreme Court has rejected a Sri Lankan Tamil citizen’s request to live as a refugee in India and made strict remarks that India is not a Dharamshala for the whole world, as more than 1.4 billion people are already living in the country. Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice K.K. The petition was heard before the bench of Vinod Chandran.
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The petitioner was arrested in 2015 on suspicion of having a relationship with the terrorist organization ‘Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’ (LTTE). In 2018, the court convicted him under the UAPA and sentenced him to 10 years in jail. In 2022, the Madras High Court reduced his punishment to 7 years, but ordered him to leave the country on completion of the punishment and by then he was allowed to stay in the refugee camp.
The petitioner, who is a Sri Lankan Tamil, told the Supreme Court that he had come to India on a visa, as his life was threatened in Sri Lanka. His wife and children have settled in India and have been arrested for the last three years and the process of extradition has not started yet. To this, Justice Dutt said, “India is not a country that can give shelter to the people of the whole world. We are struggling with a population of 1.4 billion. India is not a Dharamshala for anyone.”
The petitioner’s lawyers argued under Article 21 (security of life and freedom) and Article 19 of the Constitution. However, the court clarified that he was arrested as per law under Article 21 and his right to life and freedom was not violated. And Article 19 applies only to Indian citizens. “What is the right to settle here?” The court asked this question. While the petitioner’s counsel described his life as a threat, the court suggested that he should move to another country instead of India.
