Overview
- The Union government told the Supreme Court on May 22, 2026 that it will bring back certain Bengali-speaking people who were deported to Bangladesh and will verify their claims of Indian citizenship.
- Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the repatriation process could take about eight to ten days and that the government's promise applies to the specific facts of these petitions, not as a binding precedent.
- The return is tied to appeals against a Calcutta High Court order from September 2025 that set aside the deportation orders as illegal and directed repatriation after finding the removals were rushed and procedurally flawed.
- One deportee, Sunali Khatun, was allowed to re-enter India on humanitarian grounds in December 2025 and received medical care while other family members remained in Bangladesh until the Centre's fresh undertaking.
- The court recorded that continued stay in India will depend on the outcome of formal verification; this step highlights questions about compliance with a May 2025 Ministry of Home Affairs memo and could prompt closer judicial oversight of future deportations.