The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Wednesday stayed a single-judge bench’s order that had directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to bring back a 63-year-old Pakistani-origin woman, Rakshanda Rashid, who was deported following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Arun Palli admitted the Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, and granted an interim stay on the order passed by Justice Rahul Bharti on June 6.
Rakshanda Rashid, originally from Lahore, has been residing in Jammu for the past 38 years after marrying an Indian citizen. Following heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack — which claimed 26 lives and injured several others — Rashid was deported to Pakistan on April 30.
The single-judge bench had described her deportation as lacking “due process” and violative of her fundamental and human rights. It had ordered her return to India, prompting the Centre and the UT administration to challenge the verdict.
Appearing for Rashid, advocate Ankur Sharma argued that his client had no surviving family in Pakistan and had been living with her Indian husband since marriage. “She had a valid long-term visa, renewed annually. She had reapplied for renewal in January, but the Pahalgam incident changed everything,” he said, adding that Rashid is now staying as a paying guest in Lahore after a temporary stay in a hotel.
Rashid had applied for Indian citizenship in 1996, but the application has remained pending for over two decades. “Her deportation was a direct violation of her right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution,” Sharma contended.
In its appeal, the MHA argued that Rashid’s visa had expired and she had no legal basis to continue staying in India. It further cited national security concerns arising out of the Pahalgam attack to justify her removal.
The matter is now listed for hearing on July 10.
