The Supreme Court on Monday (June 16, 2025) orally observed that agents who dupe “poor and gullible” people with dreams of a future in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom by promising to smuggle them in through the “donkey routes” devalue the Indian passport.
“Have you seen these poor, gullible people being brought back in chains? Because of people like you, the Indian passport is devalued,” a Bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Manmohan addressed a counsel, who appeared for an agent accused of tricking people off their money by promising them a career abroad.
The lawyer had sought anticipatory bail for the agent.
“Look at the donkey route… Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru, Chile… Looks like the whole of the Americas…” Justice Manmohan remarked.
What is a donkey route?
