New Delhi, Dec 7 Terming it "racist", the Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected a a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking police verification of passports of all people from Africa as well as Bangladeshis residing in the city after accusing them of being drug peddlers.
A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said that all these people are human beings and have valid passports.
"There is no research done by you. What is the basis of this? These comments can be termed racist. Sorry, there is nothing in this," it said.
The PIL filed by advocate Sushil Kumar Jain alleged that most Africans in the city are into the drug peddling business and it is affecting the youth and their future. He claimed that such foreign nationals are directly spoiling the social and economic structure of the country.
He also stated in the plea that these foreigners take a student or medical visa and commit illegal acts like smuggling drugs, human trafficking, and cyber fraud.
"Many of the foreigners taking student visas and medical visas involve in illegal acts, crime like drug smuggling, human trafficking, and cyber fraud. Due to prostitution prevailing has been supporting (sic) in the spread of AIDS and many other sexually transmitted diseases in Delhi," the plea said.
Jain also alleged that African people and Bangladeshis are living as tenants here without any proper verification being done by their landlords.
"That they all are living as tenants in Delhi and their landlords have been accommodating them without their proper verification for deriving monetary benefits through them in easy ways...this habits of the landlord (providing illegal shelters to foreigners without verification) can provide easy means and ways for terrorists to act in our country and they can easily get success in their nefarious plan/design in Delhi and across our country," said the plea.
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