NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the deportation of a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee, Bhaskaran Kumarasamy, a former member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who fled to India in 2004 during the final years of the country’s civil war, citing a serious threat to his life if sent back.
A bench of justices KV Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh passed the interim order while hearing Kumarasamy’s plea challenging the Madras high court’s decisions from 2021 and 2024 that upheld the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to deport him.
The bench has also sought a response from the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government on the current status of his deportation.
“Considering that the deportation order is five years and six months old, we would like to be apprised of the status of the deportation. Meanwhile, the deportation is stayed,” said the bench, posting the matter for further hearing on August 4.
Kumarasamy’s counsel urged the court to intervene, pointing out that his client could be killed upon his return to Sri Lanka and that he should be permitted to appear before the Swiss embassy in New Delhi to pursue a pending asylum application. The court acknowledged the concern and also observed that Kumarasamy may explore the possibility of applying for Indian citizenship under the newly enacted Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), if eligible.
Kumarasamy, a former cadre of the LTTE, fled from Jaffna’s Nalloor area in 2004 with his wife, Sakuntala and daughters, Sobana and Sobiha — then aged eight and six. The family entered India through Rameswaram and was lodged at the Mandapam refugee camp in Tamil Nadu. Kumarasamy claims to have given up arms before leaving Sri Lanka.
In 2019, the Tamil Nadu government issued a deportation order against him, and since then, he has been entangled in a prolonged legal battle to stay in India. The Madras high court initially stayed the deportation in August 2020, noting the credible threat to his life in Sri Lanka.
“For the past 13 years, he is in India. Moreover, his family members, father, brother, brother’s wife and daughter, were reportedly murdered by the Sri Lankan Army,” the high court had noted at the time, adding that deporting him would not serve the interest of justice.
However, the high court reversed course in June 2021. Dismissing his plea to visit the Swiss embassy in Delhi to process his asylum request, the court held that Kumarasamy could no longer be considered a refugee under Indian law. It relied on the Tamil Nadu police’s Q Branch’s assertion that Sri Lanka was now safe for returnees and pointed out that Kumarasamy briefly travelled to Sri Lanka in 2014 for eye surgery — a fact that, according to the court, weakened his claim of credible threat.
Kumarasamy was also among 19 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees booked in 2016 by Tamil Nadu’s Q Branch under multiple laws, including the Foreigners Act and other penal charges related to conspiracy, trafficking and cheating. He was arrested and moved from Bagayam refugee camp to Tiruchirappalli Special Camp, and later to Puzhal Central Jail.
Though he and the others were acquitted of all charges in 2019, Kumarasamy remained confined to the special camp in Trichy. In 2020, he began the process of seeking asylum in Switzerland, where a sizeable diaspora of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees resides.
According to Kumarasamy, the Swiss embassy in Delhi had asked him to appear for an interview as part of his application process. However, he was unable to obtain the necessary travel permission from the Tamil Nadu authorities. He claims that despite submitting official communication from the embassy, both the district collector of Tiruchirappalli and the local revenue inspector denied him permission to travel to Delhi.
In February 2021, Kumarasamy petitioned the Madras high court to be allowed to travel to Delhi. But in June that year, the court not only dismissed his plea but also agreed with the authorities’ contention that he no longer qualified for refugee protections.
