Apr 20, 2019,
HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad police’s special investigation team (SIT) has filed a petition in a city criminal court against the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for not following its orders in a probe against Rohingya refugees. The petition has so far neither been admitted nor disposed of by the 12th additional court of metropolitan magistrate at Nampally.
Hyderabad cops say that UNHCR cannot claim immunity from Indian laws as the country is neither a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951 nor its Protocol of 1967.
SIT is probing four cases where Rohingya refugees allegedly obtained voter ID and Aadhaar cards by claiming to be Indian citizens. Officials say that of the four cases, the arrest of eight persons, including five Rohingya who came from Myanmar, in January 2018, is the most prominent.
The cops had asked UNHCR for biometrics, photographs and other demographic details of the Rohingya taken during their enrolment as refugees to establish that the accused who claimed to be Indians were in fact refugees. The UN agency, however, refused to share the information stating that they had immunity from the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). UNHCR registers asylum seekers and grants them refugee status based on the information they provide.
Deputy commissioner of police Avinash Mohanty told TOI, “We have sought the information from UNHCR that could be vital evidence to our case, but they have refused it.”
Assistant commissioner of police D Hari Kumar Yadav, who is part of the SIT, said, “Rohingya are misusing their refugee status. By producing electricity bills, they are getting voter ID cards, which in turn helps them to get Aadhaar. One of the accused even obtained a passport. We filed a petition asking the court to take cognisance under CrPC Section 195 and IPC Section 188.”
CrPC Section 195 (b) (ii) pertains to forgery with a document produced in court as evidence. IPC Section 188 relates to disobeying a public servant. An email sent to UNHCR India seeking information on the issue is yet to be answered, police said Police officials said that despite a court order the Unique Identification Authority of India had also earlier refused to share biometric data of Rohingya citing the Aadhaar Act of 2016 and other cases.
Special public prosecutor for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at Hyderabad, P Vishnuvardhan Reddy, told TOI, “As UNHCR operates within Indian territory and Rohingya have fraudulently obtained Aadhaar and EPIC cards, the local police is empowered to initiated prosecution not only under Section 195 of the CrPC, but also under Section 176 of the IPC as the UN agency has refused information required by law. Under Section 195, a public servant can file a petition in court for contempt of a lawful authority.”
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