The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has ordered the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to facilitate the return of 63-year-old Rakshanda Rashid, a Pakistani national who was deported from India in April, observing that human rights must be protected “at all costs.”
Justice Rahul Bharti, delivering the order on June 6, directed the central government to bring her back within 10 days and submit a compliance report by July 1. The directive came in response to a petition filed by Rashid’s daughter, Falak Zahoor, who informed the court that her mother was critically ill and had no family or support system in Pakistan.
Rashid, who had been living in India for nearly four decades on a valid long-term visa, was deported on April 30, the same day her legal challenge against deportation was scheduled to be heard in court.
The court took exception to this sequence of events, noting that no detailed hearing or formal order preceded the deportation, which it said should have been assessed on merit before such an “extreme step” was taken.
“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,” Justice Bharti wrote in the judgment.
The court's intervention follows a pattern of similar cases in recent months.
On April 30, the High Court also granted interim relief to Ifthkar Ali, a Poonch-based police constable, and his eight siblings, halting their deportation and allowing them to reunite with family in Jammu and Kashmir. In a separate case, Minal Khan, a Pakistani woman married to a CRPF jawan, was also spared deportation at the last moment.
The deportations came in the wake of heightened scrutiny, and India's decision to downgrade diplomatic ties with Pakistan, following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, where 26 civilians were killed by armed terrorists.
(With inputs from ToI)
Justice Rahul Bharti, delivering the order on June 6, directed the central government to bring her back within 10 days and submit a compliance report by July 1. The directive came in response to a petition filed by Rashid’s daughter, Falak Zahoor, who informed the court that her mother was critically ill and had no family or support system in Pakistan.
Rashid, who had been living in India for nearly four decades on a valid long-term visa, was deported on April 30, the same day her legal challenge against deportation was scheduled to be heard in court.
The court took exception to this sequence of events, noting that no detailed hearing or formal order preceded the deportation, which it said should have been assessed on merit before such an “extreme step” was taken.
“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,” Justice Bharti wrote in the judgment.
The court's intervention follows a pattern of similar cases in recent months.
On April 30, the High Court also granted interim relief to Ifthkar Ali, a Poonch-based police constable, and his eight siblings, halting their deportation and allowing them to reunite with family in Jammu and Kashmir. In a separate case, Minal Khan, a Pakistani woman married to a CRPF jawan, was also spared deportation at the last moment.
The deportations came in the wake of heightened scrutiny, and India's decision to downgrade diplomatic ties with Pakistan, following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, where 26 civilians were killed by armed terrorists.
(With inputs from ToI)
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