J&K High Court upheld the deportation of a couple who lost Indian citizenship after acquiring Pakistani nationality. Court ruled their stay post visa expiry had no legal basis.
Srinagar: Today, on June 30, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has ruled that two Pakistani nationals, who had entered India with valid visas in 1988, can be legally deported as they no longer hold Indian citizenship.
The Court dismissed their challenge against the deportation order, stating that by voluntarily acquiring Pakistani citizenship, they lost their Indian citizenship as per Section 9(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
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The case was heard by a single bench of Justice Sindhu Sharma, who firmly stated,
“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.”
Justice Sharma further clarified that,
“Voluntary acquisition of citizenship of another country by an Indian citizen results in the termination of his Indian citizenship.”
The petitioners in this case are husband and wife, both originally born in Srinagar — the husband in 1945 and the wife in 1962. According to the case details, the husband moved to Pakistan during the 1948 conflict and eventually became a Pakistani citizen.
The wife held an Indian passport, but after marrying him in Rawalpindi in 1986, she too became a Pakistani citizen.
In July 1988, the couple entered India along with their minor son using Pakistani passports and valid Indian visas. The CID issued residential permits, and their visas were extended three times, with the last extension valid until November 1988.
After their permits expired, they submitted a representation to the government requesting that their Indian citizenship be resumed or granted.
While this request was under consideration, the Home Department issued a deportation order on September 13, 1989.
The couple challenged this order by filing a writ petition in the High Court, arguing that they should be allowed to stay in India.
However, the Court was clear in its view that the petitioners were not entitled to stay in the country. It ruled that their voluntary act of becoming Pakistani citizens had ended their legal claim to Indian citizenship.
The Court said,
“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.”
The couple’s lawyer argued that a formal inquiry under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act should have been conducted to determine their citizenship status.
However, the Court disagreed. It explained that since the facts of the case were not in dispute, there was no need for such a formal procedure.
It said,
“There is nothing on record to suggest that their request for grant of citizenship of India has been accepted. They are staying in India on the strength of Pakistani passports, the period of which has expired and after expiry of the extension of their stay they had to return to their country.”
To support its view, the High Court also referred to a previous Supreme Court judgment — Izhar Ahmad Khan v. Union of India (1962).
In that case, the Supreme Court had made it clear that if an Indian citizen voluntarily acquires citizenship of another country after January 26, 1950, it automatically leads to the end of their Indian citizenship. The High Court followed the same legal principle in this case.
After examining the entire matter and concluding that the petitioners had no legal right to remain in India, the High Court dismissed their petition.
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The Petitioners were represented by Advocates Mohammad Altaf Khan and Hashir Shafiq.
The Respondents were represented by Senior Additional Advocate General Mohsin Qadiri, along with DGSI T.M. Shamsi and Advocates Maha Majeed and Sahila Nissar.
Case Title:
Mohd Khalil Qazi & Anr. v. State of Jammu & Kashmir & Ors. (OWP No.114/1990).
Read Judgement:
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