India’s Karnataka state has no immediate plan to deport 72 Rohingyas: Govt to SC

The Bharatiya Janata Party government of Karnataka state has told the Indian Supreme Court that it has no immediate plan to deport the 72 Rohingyas in its jurisdiction.

Karnataka government also claimed that it has not taken any coercive action against them so far, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

"The Bengaluru city police have not taken any action against them as of now and there is no immediate plan of deporting them," read a statement of objection filed by the state government before the court yesterday.

The BJP government in Karnataka also wanted rejection of the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, who in the 2017 plea sought deportation of all "illegal immigrants including Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshis".

According to Karnataka government, Upadhyay's petition is liable to be dismissed because it is "devoid of merit" and is also "untenable in law".

The e BJP-led Karnataka government's response on the Rohingya deportation issue stands in sharp contrast to what the Narendra Modi-led government in Delhi has articulated before the Supreme Court in cases related to deportation of Rohingya refugees.