Union Home Minister P Chidambaram demands information on FTII student's deportation from the state government

Why was neetu singh deported?

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram demands information on FTII student's deportation from the state government

"The Centre has no information against Neetu Singh. Neither do they have a file on her or any sort of records."

That's what Brinda Karat told MiD DAY in a telephonic interview barely minutes after she met Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to seek his intervention in the case of the 'unjust' deportation of a Pune student.

On December 5, FTII student Neetu Singh, a Nepali resident, was picked up from her hostel and quietly deported back to her country. When the case hit headlines in the last week of December, police justified their action by saying she was involved in anti-national activities. However till date, they have yet to furnish proof of her so-called activities.

Neetu, no threat
Karat said, "This confirmation from the home minister indicates that the deported student was no threat to national security as claimed by police."

She added, "The minister had sought papers from the state government and assured that he will take appropriate action once he is in the possession of papers."

On Friday, Union Home Secretary G K Pillai had sought a report from the Maharashtra government on the incident.u00a0

No human rights
According to section 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) that governs the Indian police, a woman cannot be arrested after sunset. However, in this case Neetu was picked up from her hostel at 10.30 pm.

Defending their actions, Special Branch DCP Ravindra Sengaonkar had earlier said that being a foreign national, the CrPC section was not applicable to her.

Aseem Sarode, a human rights activist, objected to this and said, "Articles 14, 15 of the Indian Constitution guarantees quality before law and equal protection of law. Even if she were a foreigner, all the laws of the land would be applicable to her."