Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has granted bail to Bangladeshi Christian woman accused of being an "illegal immigrant".
 
A single judge bench of Justice John Michael Cunha observed there is prima facie material to show since 2002, the woman has been residing in India. And as a result, she deserves bail in the light of the amended Section 2 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 through the CAA, 2019.
 
The High Court noted that the definition of "illegal migrant" under Section 2 of the Citizenship Act has been renewed after the new citizenship law was passed. As per the amendment, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan will not be treated as illegal migrants under the Act.
 
It was alleged the woman obtained the Indian passport through fraudulent documents. The court noted these allegations of fabrication and manipulation of IDs such as Aadhaar and PAN would have to establish by the prosecution in the trial.
 
The petitioner told the court that in 2003, she came to India to pursue higher education. Later she married an Indian resident and obtained a passport by furnishing valid documents. In 2019, the petitioner and her son were detained by an Immigration Officer at Kolkata airport but were released later.