J&K High Court stays repatriation of Pakistan-origin woman deported after Pahalgam attack

The Division Bench of the J&K and Ladakh High Court on Wednesday granted interim stay on an earlier order of a judge to repatriate 63-year-old Rakshanda Rashid, who was deported to Pakistan by the authorities following the Pahalgam terror attack.

On June 6, Judge Rahul Bharti had ordered the Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs to repatriate petitioner Rakshanda Rashid, a Pakistani national, to India. The Union Home Ministry filed a Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) challenging the order that stated that deportation was done without following proper procedures.

“This court is bearing in mind…that the petitioner was having Long Term Visa status at a relevant point of time which per-se may not have warranted her deportation but without examining her case in better perspective and coming up with a proper order with respect to her deportation from the authorities concerned, still she came to be forced out,” the order by Judge Rahul Bharti stated.

However, Chief Justice Arun Palli, heading the Division Bench on Wednesday, admitted the LPA for hearing, and granted an interim stay on the implementation of the repatriation order.

The decision left the family heartbroken who said that Rakshanda was living on her own in Pakistan as she do not have any relatives in the country. “We were hoping that my mother will be brought back. We had all hopes on government but it seems we will have to wait for it” Falak Sheikh, daughter of Rakshanda, told The Tribune.

She said the government should deport those foreign nationals who are staying illegally in India. “My mother had come to India by marrying my father, an Indian citizen, years ago and was also having all required documents” said Falak and added that her mother was living without any support in the Pakistan.

J & K