‘Leniency dangerous’: 2 illegal Bangladesh migrants sentenced

Mumbai: Observing that leniency may prove dangerous to national security and legitimate rights of Indian citizens as unauthorised entries tax the nation's economy, a magistrate court convicted and sentenced two Bangladeshi nationals in separate cases for illegally entering and residing in India without valid travel documents. In the first case, Rabiya Shaikh was apprehended following a sting operation by Versova police after authorities received information regarding an infiltrator in Shastri Nagar. While Shaikh claimed to have lived in India for over three decades after arriving as a child, she was unable to produce legal residency permits or a passport. Evidence from her mobile phone established frequent communication with relatives in Bangladesh. Rabiya has filed an appeal in the sessions court which stated the order.In the other instance, the court decided the case of Mukhtar Khan, who was arrested by D B Marg Police and found to have been residing in the country illegally since 2010. "Authorised routes for entry into India and lawful civil authority are prescribed by the rules and regulations. Furthermore, the citizenship is also necessarily established in an intimate manner through requisite documents like birth certificate, domicile certificate etc. There is no other way to establish all these facts than the prescribed," the judge said. During the proceedings, the magistrate addressed the legal standards required to prove Indian citizenship. The court clarified residency alone, regardless of duration, does not equate to nationality. — Rebecca Samervel