New Delhi, 19 May

The Supreme Court on Monday observed the country was not a "dharamshala" or a public shelter to accommodate foreign nationals from across the globe.

A bench of justices Dipankar Datta and K Vinod Chandran was hearing a plea challenging an order of the Madras High Court directing the petitioner, a Sri Lankan citizen, to leave the country after finishing his seven-year sentence in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case.

"Is India to host refugees from all over the world? We are struggling with 140 crore people… This is not a dharmshala that we can entertain foreign nationals from all over the world," the bench said.

The petitioner's counsel said his client was facing threats of arrest and torture in his country as he was a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) member, and that his wife and children had settled in India.

The bench, however, said the fundamental right to settle in India was available only to its citizens and that there was no violation of his rights under Article 21 (protection of life and liberty) of the Constitution.

"What is your right to settle here," the bench said, "go to some other country."

The petitioner was sentenced under Section 10 (penalty for being a member of an unlawful association) of the UAPA Act.

The Madras High Court while reducing his sentence from 10 years to seven directed him to leave the country immediately.

On 16 May, another apex court bench rapped the petitioners who claimed 43 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, were dropped in the Andaman sea for deportation to Myanmar and said, "when the country is passing through a difficult time, you come out with fanciful ideas."

The top court was then informed that some refugees having United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cards, including women and children, were arrested by police authorities late last night and deported.

"If they (Rohingyas) are all foreigners and if they are covered by the Foreigners' Act, then they will have to be dealt with as per the Foreigners' Act," the bench had said while adding that UNHCR-issued identity cards may not be of any help to them under the law.

On 8 May, the top court said if Rohingya refugees in the country were found to be foreigners under Indian laws they would have to be deported.