repatriate-63-year-old-woman-deported-to-pak-hc-directs-centre

Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to repatriate a 63-year-old woman who was sent back to Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack.

 

The High Court passed the verdict, mentioning the exceptional nature of the case, as the petitioner had been residing in the country for over four decades.

The high court ordered compliance within 10 days from the date of the order (June 6) and posted the matter to July 1 for a compliance report.

 

Justice Rahul Bharti passed the order in a writ petition filed on behalf of the woman, named Rakshanda Rashid, through her daughter Falak Zahoor.

 

The petitioner’s husband, Sheikh Zahoor Ahmad, told the court that she has no one in Pakistan for her care and custody and that the woman has no one in Pakistan who could look after her. Also, the woman was suffering from multiple ailments and needed active care.

 

This is perhaps the extraordinary judgement passed by Justice Rahul Bharti, noting that human rights are sacrosanct.

 

“Human rights are the most sacrosanct component of a human life and, therefore, there are occasions when a constitutional court is supposed to come up with SOS like indulgence, notwithstanding the merits and demerits of a case which can be adjudicated only in due course of time and therefore, this Court is coming up with a direction to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, to bring back the petitioner from her deportation,” the order reads.

 

The court also recognised the legality of the case and said since she had a long-term Visa, her deportation might be unjustified and that she was forced out without even a proper deportation order from the authorities.

 

“This Court is bearing in mind background that the reference that the petitioner was having LTV status at relevant point of time which per-se may not have warranted her deportation but without examining her case in better perspective and coming up with a proper order concerning her deportation from the authorities concerned; still, she came to be forced out,” the verdict further reads.