Jharkhand HC pulls up state govt for improper affidavits in illegal immigration PIL

Ranchi, Jul 18 (PTI) The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday pulled up the state government for not filing proper affidavits in connection with a PIL that claimed illegal immigration from Bangladesh was affecting the social demography of the Santhal Pargana districts.
    A division bench of Chief Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad had earlier ordered the deputy commissioners of Deoghar, Pakur, Dumka, Sahibganj, Godda and Jamtara to furnish reports on the actual position of illegal immigration in their respective districts.
    The court had also ordered the SPs of the six Santhal Pargana districts to provide feedback to the DCs in preparing their report. It had also directed the chief secretary of the state to coordinate with the DCs in compiling the reports.
    The court was, however, informed that the affidavits were not filed by the DCs but by subordinate officers.
    The bench refused to accept the affidavits and ordered them to be filed afresh.
    The bench expressed its annoyance, stating that it was a very serious matter and such action on the part of the DCs seemed to have been done to mislead the court.
    In the PIL, it was alleged that the social demography of the Santhal Pargana districts was being adversely affected because of illegal immigration from Bangladesh, and these illegal immigrants were getting married to tribals to acquire land.
    The court had on July 3 ordered the state government to take immediate steps to push back illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)