Karnataka High Court Overturns Detention of School Bus Driver Accused of Being Undocumented Migrant

The Karnataka High Court has revoked the detention order against a school bus driver, Rafikul Biswas, who was held in Bengaluru amid allegations of being an undocumented migrant from Bangladesh. This significant ruling came after the Election Commission confirmed the authenticity of Biswas’s voter identity card, indicating that he has been a resident of India for generations.

Biswas, who was detained in August 2025, had asserted that he hails from the Nadia district of West Bengal and has lived in Bengaluru for over seven years with his wife and daughter. According to his statements at the time of detention, he faced threats of deportation to Bangladesh, which added to his distress. His health took a serious turn during the detention, leading to two heart attacks, after which he was released in December on medical grounds.

Further investigations by the police and block development officer in Nadia, conducted in October, corroborated Biswas’s claims regarding his Indian citizenship. He had presented records indicating he was born an Indian citizen and had received a fresh voter identity card during a special review of the electoral rolls in West Bengal.

In their deliberations, the Karnataka High Court criticized the West Bengal government’s handling of the situation, raising concerns over the potential mischaracterization of individuals’ status and the implications of such actions. The case highlights broader issues regarding the treatment of migrants and the intricacies of citizenship documentation in India.

This ruling is a crucial development in the ongoing discourse about migration, citizenship rights, and the legal frameworks governing these complex issues in India. It reflects a growing recognition of the need for rigorous scrutiny of claims regarding undocumented status, especially in cases where individuals have firmly established lives and families within the country.

Source: scroll.in