Overview
- In a public statement, the former judges say the Chief Justice was posing a threshold legal query about who in law has granted the status being asserted before the Court.
- They contend critics omitted the Bench’s affirmation that no person on Indian soil, citizen or foreigner, may be subjected to torture, disappearance or inhuman treatment.
- The signatories note India is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and say Rohingya migrants have not entered under any statutory refugee framework.
- They support consideration of a court‑monitored Special Investigation Team to probe alleged illegal procurement of Aadhaar, ration cards and other Indian documents by foreign nationals.
- The rebuttal follows a December 5 open letter by other former judges and lawyers who called reported references to “intruders” and a “red carpet” dehumanising during a habeas plea on alleged Rohingya custodial disappearances.