on Monday refused to allow a Sri Lankan man to settle in India after he completed a seven-year jail sentence. The court said that with a population of 140 crore, India cannot become a dharamshala (free shelter) for people from other countries.The man, a Sri Lankan national, was arrested in 2015 for his links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a banned separatist group in Sri Lanka. In 2018, a Tamil Nadu court convicted him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and gave him a 10-year sentence. However, the Madras High Court reduced his sentence to seven years in 2022 and directed that he be kept in a refugee camp until he could be deported.

Now, after completing his prison term, the man requested the court to allow him to stay in India. His lawyer argued that his wife and children were already settled in the country and that he had the right to life and freedom of movement.

But the bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and K Vinod Chandran disagreed. They said that while he had the right to life, he did not have the right to settle in India. “Is India a dharamshala to host refugees from all over the world?” Justice Datta asked. “We are already struggling with a 140 crore population.”

The man’s lawyer also said that returning to Sri Lanka could endanger his life, as he had been associated with the LTTE. The court replied that he could consider moving to another country. “What is your right to settle here?” the bench questioned.

Earlier, on May 8, a three-judge bench had made similar comments when lawyers Colin Gonsalves and Prashant Bhushan asked the court to stop India from deporting Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar. The bench had said, “Right to residence is only for Indian citizens. It is not available to foreigners.”Inputs from TOI