The Allahabad High Court has granted interim relief to a woman alleged to be a Pakistani citizen, staying her arrest in connection with a case registered against her for allegedly residing illegally in India and securing employment as a teacher on the basis of forged documents.
A division bench comprising Justices Siddhartha Varma and Abdul Shahid passed the order on Wednesday while hearing a writ petition filed by Shumaila Khan, who has been teaching at a government primary school in Bareilly’s Fatehganj block since 2015.
Khan moved the High Court seeking quashing of an FIR lodged against her on January 14, which accused her of obtaining a forged domicile certificate to secure appointment as an assistant teacher at the Madhopur primary school.
On her behalf, it was submitted that she has already challenged the cancellation of her domicile certificate through a separate writ petition, which is presently pending before the court and has undergone substantial hearing.
The bench observed that the issue before the court directly concerns Khan’s citizenship status. Clubbing the present petition with her earlier writ petition (Writ-C No. 5658 of 2025, Ms. Shumaila Khan Alias Furqana vs. State of U.P. and Others), the bench ordered:
“Since the issue before the court would be with regard to the citizenship of the petitioner, we provide that till the next date of listing the petitioner shall not be arrested.”
The matter has been listed for further hearing on October 7.
