Migrants Crisis : SC Reserves Order After Hearing Centre, States; To Pass Further Directions On June 9

The Supreme Court on Friday reserved orders on the suo moto case registered on the issue of migrants crisis, after hearing the Centre, State Government and intervnors.

A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul and M R Shah observed during the course of hearing that directions for ensuring the welfare of migrants who have now reached their native states will be passed.

The bench said it will pass further directions next Tuesday, June 9.

"What we propose to do is that we will give you(Centre) & the states 15 days time to transport all migrants. All states will have to bring on record how they will provide employment and other kinds of relief. There should be registration of the migrants", the bench observed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that in accordance with guidelines, Indian Railways operated 4228 trains till 3rd June and shared statistics regarding the number of migrants transported.

SG also suggested that the existing system devised for train travel must be allowed to continue, as announcing trains in advance would lead to chaos.

"There can't be objection to declaring trains in advance, but if it's made open to all there will be rush at the station. There are 2 trains for which registration was not done earlier. The system adopted by state so far has worked effectively, let it remain", SG said.

Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves submitted that there were still issues at ground level with respect to registration for travel.

"The registration system is not working, which is a major problem. Half the migrant workers are not able to register to even go back", he said.

He further stated that two other HCs made an observation on this issue and there is need to simplify the process.

Sr. Adv. Indira Jaising said that migrants should be allowed to travel like any other passenger.

"The problem is that these migrants are not being treated like any other passengers who want to travel on train", she submitted.

""Allow them to manually get tickets. Trains be announced one week in advance, so that everyone knows when the train will depart, from which destination to where and and what time", she added.

She also highlighted the issue of migrant workers facing FIR for walking back home amid lockdown.

The Court also heard Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Jaideep Gupta (for TMC MP Mahua Moitra), ASG Sanjay Jain, P S Narasimha (for UP Govt), Ranjit Kumar (Bihar), Jayant Muthu Raj (Tamil Nadu), G Prakash (Kerala), Siboo Sankar Mishra (Odisha), Prabhuling Navadgi (Karnataka), Aman Lekhi (Madhya Pradesh), Manish Singhvi (Rajasthan), Prabhu Patil (NHRC), Maninder Singh (Gujarat), K V Vishwanathan (NLSIU alumni) etc.

On May 29, the bench had passed a slew of directions to ensure free travel for migrants, and availability of food and water for travelling migrants.

 Detailed account of live updates from hering may be read here.

(From updates given from SC by Sanya Talwar)