Supreme Court Refuses Interim Stay On Detention Of Illegal Bangladeshi Immigrants

The Supreme Court refused an interim stay on Thursday on the detention of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

The court noted that while states have the right to inquire about migrant workers' bonafides, any interim order regarding detention could have far-reaching implications, especially for those who have illegally crossed borders.

"What if an infiltrator enters illegally? If you don't detain, the writing on the wall is that they will disappear," a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said, as per NDTV report.

It also issued notices to the Union government and nine states, and sought their responses on a petition filed by the West Bengal Migrant Workers Welfare Board, which alleged that the migrant workers were being arbitrarily detained and deported under a May 2025 Ministry of Home Affairs circular. 

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the board, alleged that people were being harassed by the states just because they speak Bengali and have documents in that language on the basis of a circular issued by the home ministry.

The court asked to wait for sometime for the responses from the Centre and the Odisha, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and West Bengal governments.

On reports of harassment, the bench said some mechanism needs to be developed to ensure that genuine citizens are not harassed.