Pahalgam Attack | Centre Set To Challenge J&K High Court’s Order To Repatriate Woman Deported To Pakistan
A 63-year-old woman, deported to Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack, may soon see her case go to a higher court as the Indian government plans to appeal a High Court order directing her return. The Court said human rights must come before technicalities.
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SRINAGAR: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of India is planning to file an appeal against a recent decision by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
This order had directed the government to bring back a 63-year-old Indian housewife named Rakshanda Rashid, who was deported to Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
The appeal is expected to be filed soon in a higher court, as per a government source.
In the judgment, Justice Rahul Bharti clearly ordered the Union Home Secretary to “retrieve” Ms. Rashid from Pakistan,
“Given the exceptional nature of facts and circumstances of the case.”
Rakshanda Rashid had been staying in Jammu with her Indian husband and two children for 38 years before she was suddenly deported to Pakistan on April 30. She was sent back through the Attari land border in Punjab, even though her visa type should have protected her from such action.
Her family members then approached the High Court, which passed an order on June 6 instructing the central government to bring her back within 10 days.
Ankur Sharma, the lawyer representing Ms. Rashid, told The Hindu that the MHA might appeal the order before the Division Bench of the High Court. He added that they are ready to file a caveat to ensure they are informed if the matter is taken up.
“We understand that if the order is challenged by the Union government, we may also file a caveat so that whenever the case comes up for hearing we are also given a notice to present our case,”
-said Mr. Sharma.
Currently, Ms. Rashid is reportedly staying in a hotel in Lahore with very little money. She has no family in Pakistan. Her daughter shared that Ms. Rashid had been living in India on a Long-Term Visa (LTV) and had applied for Indian citizenship way back in 1996. However, her application was never processed.
After the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which took the lives of 26 people, the MHA canceled visas of all Pakistani nationals in India and asked them to leave by April 29.
However, according to her lawyer, this order did not apply to those with long-term visas or to Pakistani women married to Indian citizens — like Ms. Rashid. Still, she was detained by the Jammu and Kashmir police and deported.
In a strong observation, Judge Bharti made it clear that legal technicalities cannot be allowed to override basic human dignity.
“Human rights are the most sacrosanct component of a human life and, therefore, there are occasions when a constitutional court is supposed to come up with SOS-like indulgence notwithstanding the merits and demerits of a case which can be adjudicated only upon in due course of time. Therefore, this court is coming up with a direction to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India to bring back the petitioner from her deportation.”
Earlier In J&K High Court
The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court asked the Central Government of India to bring back a woman who had been recently sent back to Pakistan.
This woman, Rakshanda Rashid, was living in Jammu for the last 38 years with her husband and two children. But after a terror attack happened in Pahalgam in April, the Indian government stopped giving visas to Pakistani nationals and told all such people to leave the country. After the deadline on April 27, many people from Pakistan were sent back.
Rakshanda Rashid was one of them. She was deported on April 30 — the same day her petition against deportation was scheduled for its first hearing in the High Court. Now, she is stuck in a hotel in Lahore with no family there.
She had filed a case in the High Court saying that her deportation was unfair. Her husband also told the Court that she has no one in Pakistan to look after her and that she is suffering from serious health problems. Her life is in danger if she continues to stay there.
After hearing the matter, the High Court said sometimes the court must step in on humanitarian grounds, even before deciding the full case.
“Human rights are the most sacrosanct component of a human life and, therefore, there are occasions when a constitutional court is supposed to come up with SOS like indulgence notwithstanding the merits and demerits of a case which can be adjudicated only upon in due course of time and therefore, this Court is coming up with a direction to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India to bring back the petitioner from her deportation,”
-the Court said.
The judge also noted that Rakshanda was living in India on a Long Term Visa (LTV), and just that alone was not enough reason to deport her.
The Court said her case was not properly looked into, and no formal deportation order was made.
Because of all these reasons, the High Court gave a clear direction to the Indian government to bring her back.
“Given the exceptional nature of facts and circumstances of the case whereby the petitioner-Rakshanda Rashid wife of Sheikh Zahoor Ahmed has been purportedly deported to Pakistan in the recent drive undertaken by the Government of India post Pahalgam carnage, this Court is constrained to direct the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India to retrieve the petitioner back to J&K, India so as to facilitate the reunion of the petitioner with her husband-Sheikh Zahoor Ahmed in Jammu,”
-the Court ordered.
The Court passed this order on June 6 and asked the Government to follow it within 10 days. The next date for checking whether the order is followed is July 1.
In the case, Advocate Himani Khajuria represented Rakshanda Rashid.
The Union of India was represented by Deputy Solicitor General Vishal Sharma.
CASE TITLE:
Rakshanda Rashid th. Falak Zahoor vs Union of India & Others.
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