Jammu and Kashmir High Court upholds deportation of Pakistani couple residing in Srinagar since 1988

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh recently upheld the deportation of a married Pakistani couple who had been residing in Srinagar since 1988 on the strength of visa extensions and a 1990 order that had stayed their deportation out of India [Mohd Khalil Qazi and anr v. State of Jammu & Kashmir and anr]..On May 9, Justice Sindhu Sharma dismissed a decades-old writ petition filed by the couple in 1990, after noting that even though they may have had Indian roots, they have voluntarily acquired Pakistani citizenship since then. The Court relied on Section 9(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, to highlight that any Indian citizen who voluntarily acquires citizenship of another country ceases to be an Indian citizen.In this case, the Court found that there was nothing to suggest that the couple's repeated requests for Indian citizenship had been accepted, nor had they formally applied for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Act."Petitioner No. 1 ceased to be a citizen of India as he migrated to Pakistan and is a citizen of Pakistan. Petitioner No. 2 has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of Pakistan after her marriage and their son is a citizen of Pakistan by birth. Therefore, immediately upon acquiring the citizenship of Pakistan, they cease to be citizens of India. Thus, voluntary acquisition of citizenship of another country by an Indian citizen results in the termination of his Indian citizenship.The Court, therefore, upheld the Indian government's 1989 decision to deport the petitioners, namely Mohammad Khalil Qazi and Arifa Qazi, out of India to Pakistan. .The petitioners had their roots in Srinagar, India. The first petitioner, Mohammad Khalil Qazi, was born in Srinagar in 1945, but got stranded in Pakistan as a child during the 1947 partition, as his father had business activities in Rawalpindi. He eventually acquired Pakistani citizenship.His wife, Arifa Qazi too, was born in Srinagar in 1962. She had held an Indian passport before marrying her Khalil in Rawalpindi in 1986. After marriage, she acquired Pakistani citizenship..They arrived in India in July 1988 with their minor son on Pakistani passports. They were allowed to stay in India based on three visa extensions issued in 1988. While applying for their fourth visa extension, they also approached the authorities, urging that they be allowed to revive their Indian citizenship. However, in the meantime, a deportation order was issued against them in 1989. The couple challenged the deportation order before the High Court in 1990, which stayed the deportation until their plea was finally decided. The couple continued to live in Srinagar. .Before the Court, the couple argued that they were compelled by circumstances beyond their control to acquire Pakistani citizenship and that they should be allowed to resume Indian citizenship.The High Court, however, rejected this argument. "The petitioners have acted in their own volition acquired the citizenship of a foreign Country. Their passports and the residential permit issued in their favour are cogent, unequivocal evidence of the fact that the petitioners are not citizens of India and, as such, orders to deport them were valid .... petitioners are residing in Srinagar since 1988 and during this period they have not placed anything on record to show that they are citizens of this Country," the Court held. .Accordingly, the High Court dismissed their petition..Advocate Mohammad Altaf Khan with Advocate Hashir Shafiq appeared for the petitioners.Senior Additional Advocate General (AAG) Mohsin Qadri with Assisting Counsel Maha Majeed, and Deputy Solicitor General of India TM Shamsi with Assisting Counsel Sahila Nissar appeared for the respondent-authorities..[Read Judgment]