A human rights organisation has approached the Calcutta High Court alleging that a Muslim woman from West Bengal was illegally arrested, arbitrarily detained and wrongly labelled a “Bangladeshi” despite possessing multiple government documents establishing her Indian citizenship.
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), through its Secretary Kirity Roy, who is also the National Convenor of the Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI), submitted a complaint to the Chief Justice seeking urgent judicial intervention. The organisation alleged serious violations of constitutional safeguards and due process by the West Bengal Police and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The complaint concerns Sahida Fakir, wife of Jumman Fakir, a resident of Swarupdah village in North 24 Parganas district. According to MASUM, Sahida and her husband moved to Mumbai around 20 years ago in search of work. She is employed as a domestic worker, while her husband works cleaning vehicles.
Organisation cites voter records, birth certificate and PAN card
MASUM said Sahida’s parents were registered voters in West Bengal, with their names appearing in the 2002 electoral roll of the Swarupnagar Assembly constituency. It added that Sahida’s birth was officially registered in 1995 and her father’s death was also recorded by the state government in 2019.
The organisation told the court that Sahida possesses several official documents, including a voter ID card, PAN card, birth certificate and land records in her name, which establish her identity and citizenship.
According to the complaint, these records collectively prove that Sahida is an Indian citizen entitled to all constitutional and legal protections.
Alleged detention without due process
MASUM alleged that Sahida was stopped by police on July 19 while she was on her way to a local market and was forcibly taken to a facility where persons suspected of being illegal foreigners were being held.
The complaint claimed that police and CID officials branded her a “Bangladeshi” without any judicial determination or legally prescribed procedure.
The organisation further alleged that Sahida remained in custody for nearly 90 hours without being produced before a magistrate. It also claimed she was neither informed of the grounds of her detention nor allowed to contact her family or consult a lawyer.
MASUM argued that the detention violated Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution, which require that every arrested person be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours. It also alleged violations of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, and Supreme Court guidelines laid down in D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal, Joginder Kumar v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar.
‘Police cannot declare someone a foreigner’
In its complaint, MASUM argued that police authorities have no legal power to determine a person’s citizenship on their own.
“It is not within the executive’s jurisdiction to declare a person a foreign national merely on the basis of suspicion or profiling,” the complaint stated, adding that questions relating to citizenship can only be decided through procedures laid down under the Citizenship Act, 1955, the Foreigners Act, 1946 and other applicable laws.
The organisation described the alleged detention as “a grave violation of the constitutional guarantee of personal liberty and an extreme abuse of state power.”
Relief sought from the High Court
MASUM has asked the Calcutta High Court to direct authorities to immediately produce Sahida before a judicial magistrate and release her if there is no valid legal order authorising her detention.
The organisation has also sought an independent and time-bound investigation into the alleged illegal arrest, preservation of CCTV footage and official records related to the detention, disciplinary and criminal action against the officials involved, compensation for Sahida for the alleged violation of her fundamental rights, and safeguards to prevent Indian citizens from being branded or detained as foreigners without due legal process.
