ON DECEMBER 5, 2025 various former judges, senior advocates, legal scholars, activists and members of the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (‘CJAR’) authored an open letter addressed to the Chief Justice of India (‘CJI’) expressing deep disquiet regarding statements that appeared to equate Rohingyas, victims of genocide, with criminals who tunnel into a country.
Earlier on December 2, a bench comprising CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi heard a habeas corpus petition filed by scholar and human rights activist Dr. Rita Manchanda concerning the alleged custodial disappearance of Rohingya persons. During the hearing, the CJI raised pointed questions about the presence of Rohingya persons in India. He asked, “If an intruder comes, do we give them a red carpet welcome saying we would like to give you all facilities?". CJI Kant suggested that there was no clear problem in returning such individuals to their country of origin.
"First you enter, you cross the border illegally. You dug a tunnel or cross the fence and enter India illegally,” the CJI observed, “Then you say, now that I have entered, your laws must apply to me and say, I am entitled to food, I am entitled to shelter, my children are entitled to education. Do we want to stretch the law like this?"
These remarks triggered widespread concern within the legal community. The signatories of the open letter, which included the likes of the former High Court judges Justices A.P. Shah, K. Chandru and Anjana Prakash, noted that “invoking the plight of the poor in India to justify denying protections to refugees sets a dangerous precedent, being contrary to the principles of constitutional justice.” They cautioned that this style of reasoning erases the lived reality of a community that the United Nations has called the most persecuted minority in the world. The letter also sought to remind the CJI that, “Refugee status determination is declaratory in nature: a person does not become a refugee because of recognition, but is recognised because he or she is a refugee.”
