The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has informed the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh High Court that it has decided to give a visa for a Pakistani woman Rakshan Rashid, which was exiled from Jammu after the Pahgam terror attack, which motivates his petition to motivate her to withdraw her family.
However, the court said that the MHA order should not set an example in any way.
Rashid (62), a Pakistani citizen, who married Sheikh Zahoor Ahmed in Jammu 35 years ago, was exiled by the Government of India on April 22 as a part of the decision to deport Pakistani citizens living in India after the Pahgam terror attack on 22 April, claiming 26 lives.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Ministry of Home Affairs, informed the court that after much deliberation and in the light of the peculiar circumstances of the case, a theory was decided to give a visitor visa to Rashid.
The Division Bench which includes Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal accepted it in his order.
The bench further stated that Rashid may pursue two applications transferred by him to obtain Indian citizenship as well as a long-term visa.
The court recorded to present the Solicitor General and said that “once a-principle is decided by the competent authority, there is hardly any doubt that, after compliance with the expected procedures and formalities, the authority will process and compromise a visitor’s visa for the earliest as soon as possible”.
The court dismissed Rashid’s writ petition to relieve exile, saying that as a natural result, interim orders imposed lose their relevance and thus exist and operate.
On July 22, Mehta requested the court to postpone the proceedings to find out whether the defendant could be helped in any way or if it is still possible to remove his concerns.
In response, Rashid’s lawyer, Ankur Sharma and Himani Khajuria presented that she agreed to the syllabus suggested by the Solicitor General.
On 6 June, the single-judge bench of Justice Rahul Bharti ordered the central government to “recover” the central government.
While passing the order, Justice Bharti saw, “This court is taking into account the reference to the background that the petitioner had a long -term visa (LTV) status at the relevant time, which could not investigate his case in his exile from a copy, but in a better perspective, he agreed to come up with a proper order without investigating his case and related to related rights.”
Rashid was served with a notice of India on April 28 under Section 3 (1), 7 (1), and 2 (C) of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 1946 issued by the Criminal Investigation Department, issued by the Criminal Investigation Department.
He contacted the High Court and sought interim relief to operate the order.
However, she was issued a exit permit and was taken by the authorities to the Attari-Vaga border in Amritsar from where she crossed for Pakistan.
Rashid, a resident of the pond Khatikan region of Jammu, has four children who live in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rashid, daughter of Mohammad Rashid from Namuddin Road in Islamabad, entered India on a 14-day visitor visa to visit Jammu on February 10, 1990.
She continued to remain under the LTV given by the authorities on an annual basis. During his stay, he revealed that he married an Indian citizen.
The order stated, “It was either not disputed that his LTV was valid till January 13, 2025, and he applied for an extension on 4 January 2025. But there was no such expansion.”
Her husband expressed happiness over the verdict and thanked the court.
“We are feeling relieved … The whole family was under stress. We were suffering due to the decision (to deport it),” he said.
