Supreme Court: The Division Bench of Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh, JJ., on 2-5-2025, passed an interim order directing the authorities to not take coercive action against six members of a family such as deportation to Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, till an order on verification of their identity documents. The Court observed that the issue involves human angle and gave the family the liberty to approach the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court in case they are aggrieved by the document verification order.
Petitioner a Bengaluru-based man born in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), argued that his family was being forcibly taken to the Attari-Wagah border despite being Indian citizens. He submitted before the Court they were detained at the border, even though they possessed valid Indian documents, including passports issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, Aadhar cards and Voter-ID cards. 2 brothers of the petitioner work in Bengaluru and rest of the family resides in Srinagar.
According to the petition, the Foreigners’ Regional Officer (FRO) wrongly claimed that the family had entered India in 1997 on Pakistani visas and were required to leave after their visas expired.
The petition follows the Centre’s recent directive, issued after the recent Pahalgam terror attack asking all Pakistani nationals on short-term visas to leave India or face action.
Source: Press