New Delhi,
Maintaining that securing India’s borders was essentially an “executive function”, the NDA Government on Friday told the Supreme Court not to direct it to allow foreigners to enter the country illegally.

“Securing the borders of any sovereign nation, in accordance with law, is an essentially executive function and this court should not issue a writ directing not only the central government but all state governments having a common border to ensure that foreigners enter the territory of India,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in its latest affidavit on the Rohingya issue.

The affidavit has been filed in response to two Rohingya refugees’ plea that the Border Security Force be stopped from allegedly using “chilli and stun grenades” to stop refugees from entering India.

Terming the allegations as “false, incorrect and far from truth”, the MHA said India had been facing serious problem of infiltration because of its porous borders which was “the root cause of spread of terrorism”.

It said, “All agencies tasked with the function of guarding the borders of our nations are discharging their duties strictly in accordance with law and complying with the human rights in larger national interests.”

The Rohingya petitioners wanted permission to enter India, besides education and health care facilities and grant of refugee ID cards by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office. They also demanded to be treated like Sri Lankan Tamil refugees here.

But the Centre opposed it, saying the comparison was “ill-founded and misconceived”. Certain relief facilities to the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees had its genesis in the Indo-Ceylon agreement of 1964, it said.

Asserting that it was taking diplomatic measures to resolve Rohingya immigrants’ crisis, the Centre had in January told the top court that there was no need for it to interfere in the matter.

“We do not want India to become the refugee capital of the world. People from other countries will flood our country,” Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Mehta.

Alleging that Rohingyas had connections with ISI and ISIS, the Centre had described them as a security threat to the country. There were organized gangs involved in bringing them to India and helping them settle in various parts of the country, particularly Jammu, it had said.