India not a dharamshala: Supreme Court junks Sri Lankan’s plea against deportation

A bench headed by justice Dipankar Datta, said, “We are struggling with (population of) 1.4 billion. This is not a dharamshala that we can entertain foreign nationals from all over.”

The court was hearing a petition filed by Subaskaran (goes by one name), who completed a seven year term in 2022 and has since been at a detention camp in Tiruchirapalli pending his deportation to Sri Lanka.

His lawyers argued that his wife and children are settled in Tamil Nadu and there is threat to his life if he returns to Sri Lanka, but the bench, also comprising justice Vinod K Chandran, categorically asserted that right to reside in the country belongs only to citizens and foreigners should leave the country.