The Jharkhand High Court has once again questioned on steps being taken to prevent influx of immigrants from Bangladesh in view of the unrest in the neighbouring country and at the same time directed the state government to remain alert.

The Jharkhand High Court, while hearing a PIL on Thursday seeking probe on Bangladeshi intrusion changing the demography of Santhal Pargana, reprimanded the Centre and asked it to act before it is too late.

Disappointed over the Centre’s failure in filing an affidavit in this regard, the court wondered whether the government would act only after the infiltrators enter the country.

A bench headed by acting Chief Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) related to alleged infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals into Santhal area of Jharkhand. It pointed out that there is an atmosphere of political instability in Bangladesh and it will be too late if the government does not wake up now.

Asking as to what efforts the Central government has taken to prevent infiltration into Jharkhand, the court also inquired about the steps taken to identify the alleged infiltrators and to deport them. Also, he has sought a fresh affidavit in this connection.

During the previous hearing, the high court had directed the Deputy Commissioners of the respective districts to file an affidavit to identify the alleged infiltrators and to deport them. However, when the affidavit was filed by junior officials instead of Deputy Commissioners, the court expressed strong displeasure and issued instructions to file the affidavit again. The court had also directed the SPs of the respective districts to help them in preparing the data.

Earlier, on July 3, the court had directed the state government to identify the infiltrators and prepare an action plan to send them back. The PIL has been filed by a Jamshedpur-based social activist, Daniel Danish.

Petitioner Daniel Danish had filed a PIL alleging that Bangladeshi infiltrators have settled in Sahibganj, Pakur, Dumka, Jamtada, Deoghar and Godda areas of Jharkhand. They are marrying girls here and this has a direct impact on demography, the petitioner had stated.

According to the petitioner’s advocate Rajeev Kumar, besides asking the Centre to be more vigilant in light of the coup in Bangladesh, the court also directed the Intelligence Bureau to submit a sealed report in this regard.

The Director of Intelligence Bureau, Director General of Border Security Force, Chief Election Commissioner of India and Director General of Unique Identification Authority of India were also issued notices seeking their response, Kumar said.

The court also expressed strong displeasure about the Deputy Commissioner of the six districts of Santhal Pargana failing to reply to the court’s order.

Advocate Dhiraj Kumar of Jharkhand High Court said that the bench has instructed the state government to be vigilant in the wake of the present situation in the neighbourhood. Director General of BSF, Director of IB, Election Commission, Director General of Unique Identification Authority of India have also been made parties in this case, he said. A detailed hearing of the case will be held on August 22.