Tamil Nadu tells Sri Lankan refugee he is dead, denies his petition to reside permanently

The Commissionerate of Rehabilitation and Welfare of Non Resident Tamils (CRWNRT) has informed a Sri Lankan refugee that he is dead, and hence his representation seeking permission to reside in Tamil Nadu permanently cannot be considered. The refugee, who is very much alive, had himself received the Commissionerate’s communication addressed to him, his aunt has complained to the Madras High Court.

Filing a writ petition to shift the refugee Kanthan, alias K. Krishnakumar, from a special camp at Tiruchi to a camp at Uchampatti in Madurai district, the petitioner T. Nageswari (63) said, she and her family came to India in 1990 and have been residing in the Madurai camp since then.

Her nephew Krishnakumar was arrested in 2015 in a case booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967. After trial, a Sessions Court in Ramanathapuram sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in 2018 but the sentence was subsequently reduced to seven years by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. On completion of the sentence and after application of the remission period, he was released from prison on July 1, 2022 and remained lodged in the Tiruchi special camp since then.

Stating that multiple representations made by her to permit him to stay along with her in the Madurai special camp were not considered to date, the petitioner, in an affidavit, filed through her counsel P. Pugalendhi, said, her nephew had also made a representation to the Chief Minister’s Special Cell on July 12, 2023 seeking permission to reside in Tamil Nadu permanently.

The CM’s special cell had forwarded the representation to the CRWNRT on August 4, 2023 for necessary action and the latter, in turn, wrote to Mr. Krishnakumar on April 23, 2024 stating: “Since the applicant Krishnakumar alias Kanthan is dead, there is no necessity to take further action on the basis of his representation.” The petitioner, however, asserted that her nephew was very much alive.

Stating that he himself had received the communication from the Commissionerate by providing the necessary acknowledgement, the petitioner said, the officials had failed to verify the facts properly. She insisted on issuing a direction to shift him from Tiruchi to Madurai special camp.