BENGALURU: The state government’s move of sending SMSes to migrant workers on May 26, asking them to confirm their decision to go back home despite registration on Seva Sindhu, is a classic case of indirectly hindering their return, the Karnataka High Court said on Thursday.

“What was the need for the SMS?” a division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice BV Nagarathna orally observed. Arranging travel for 9 lakh people was a huge exercise that was bound to encounter glitches, the court said, adding,

“However, there has to be a transparent policy to choose from those registered to travel on a particular train. Apart from a transparent policy not being placed on record, an attempt has been made to create confusion in the minds of the migrant workers by resorting to a complicated exercise.” “We are of the view that (sending of SMSes) was an exercise undertaken to exclude a large number of migrants who had registered to go back,” the bench observed.

To this, the Additional Advocate General submitted that state government had no intention to exclude them and will communicate to everyone registered, that travel arrangement would be made for them.