The Supreme Court of India has issued a stay on the deportation of Bhaskaran Kumarasamy, an Eelam Tamil refugee and former member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), recognizing the credible threat to his life if returned to Sri Lanka. The ruling is being hailed as a significant intervention in a case that has drawn international concern over refugee rights, but contradicts another made just a few weeks ago.
While the Viswanathan-Kotiswar bench of the Supreme Court on June 24 stayed the deportation, last month a different bench led by Justice Dipankar Datta refused similar relief to another Eelam Tamil.
Kumarasamy, who fled Sri Lanka in 2004 during the final years of the armed conflict, has been fighting deportation for more than five years. On Monday, a bench comprising Justices K.V. Viswanathan and N. Kotiswar Singh stayed the deportation and sought responses from both the Union Government and the Tamil Nadu State Government regarding the status of the longstanding deportation order.
“Considering that the deportation order is five years and six months old, we would like to be apprised of the status of the deportation. Meanwhile, the deportation is stayed,” the bench stated, posting the matter for further hearing on August 4.
Kumarasamy arrived in Tamil Nadu with his wife and two young daughters in 2004, fleeing the war zone of Nalloor, Jaffna. His family, including his father, brother, sister-in-law, and niece, were reportedly killed by the Sri Lankan Army a fate he now fears if forcibly returned.
Though he laid down arms prior to leaving Sri Lanka, his life in India has been marked by continued surveillance, legal battles, and confinement. In 2019, he was one of 19 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees acquitted of charges related to trafficking and conspiracy, yet he remained in administrative detention at the Tiruchirappalli Special Camp, effectively under prison-like conditions.
In 2020, Kumarasamy sought asylum in Switzerland, where many Tamil refugees have resettled. The Swiss Embassy in New Delhi invited him to appear in person for an interview — a critical step in the visa process. However, Tamil Nadu authorities repeatedly denied him permission to travel to Delhi, even after he submitted official embassy correspondence.
The Madras High Court initially stayed his deportation in 2020, acknowledging the serious threat to his life in Sri Lanka. Yet in a reversal, the court ruled in 2021 and again in 2024 that Kumarasamy no longer qualified for refugee protections, citing a short 2014 trip he made to Sri Lanka for medical treatment — an act the court interpreted as undermining his claim of fear.
However, the Supreme Court’s recent intervention suggests a recognition that such reasoning fails to capture the lived realities of Tamil refugees. Kumarasamy’s counsel stressed that returning him to Sri Lanka would amount to a death sentence, especially in light of the Sri Lankan state's long-standing record of targeting former LTTE members, even years after the war
“Don’t deport me… all my family members have been eliminated… I am not a threat to India… If Switzerland is willing to give me a humanitarian visa, I will go there instead of getting killed in Sri Lanka,” Kumarasamy’s legal counsel, Muth Raj, pleaded before the court.
Although acquitted of all criminal charges in 2019, Kumarasamy remains under administrative detention. His prolonged incarceration raises concerns over India's handling of Tamil refugees — particularly those with past LTTE affiliations, who continue to face structural suspicion despite renouncing violence and seeking lawful resettlement.
The Supreme Court also noted that Kumarasamy may consider applying for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), if eligible, but reiterated that the focus at present must remain on the grave threat to his safety.
