Supreme Court pauses deportation of PoK-born man, family with Indian documents
The Supreme Court has granted interim relief to a family facing deportation despite holding Indian passports, Aadhaar cards, and voter IDs. The court stayed the move to send six alleged Pakistani nationals back to Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack and directed the petitioners to present their case before the appropriate authorities.Petitioner Ahmed Tariq Butt, 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 told the court they were detained at the border, even though they possessed valid Indian documents, including passports issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.advertisement'We are a total of six members in the same family. Two brothers work in Bangalore. Our parents, sister, and another brother are in Srinagar,' the petitioner said.
Tariq Butt's father hails from Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, while his mother was born in Srinagar.According to the petition, Tariq Butt lived in Mirpur, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, until 1997 before crossing the border and moving to Srinagar. He lived in the Kashmir Valley for several years and currently resides in Bengaluru. Tariq later earned a management degree from IIM Kozhikode and currently works in an IT firm in Bengaluru.Butt said in his application that he and his family possess Indian passports and Aadhaar cards. His family includes his sister Ayesha Tariq and brothers Abubakar Tariq and Umar Tariq Butt. According to the petition, the family lived in Mirpur, but his place of birth is listed as Srinagar in the passport.advertisementAccording 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 petitioner denied this, saying they were never Pakistani nationals and had never entered India on a visa.The petition follows the Centre's recent directive, issued after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, asking all Pakistani nationals on short-term visas to leave India or face action.
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