After the Pahalgam attack, a CRPF jawan moved the J&K High Court to stop his Pakistani wife’s deportation. The Court has sought a reply from the Centre and listed the matter for May 14.
Srinagar: The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has recently asked the Union Government and the Jammu & Kashmir Government to respond to a petition filed by a CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel named Munir Ahmed.
He has approached the Court to stop the deportation of his Pakistani wife from India. The Court, while hearing the case, asked both authorities to file their replies within ten days. The matter will now be heard again on May 14.
Justice Rahul Bharti, who is hearing the case, passed an interim order stating:
“Meantime, the petitioner No. 2 [wife] who is directed to be ousted from the UT of J&K so her ouster as well as status would be the subject to the final outcome of the writ petition.”
This case comes in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, after which the Union Government had taken a strict step on April 24 by suspending visa services to Pakistani nationals. The Government also directed Pakistani citizens who were staying in India to leave before April 27.
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In light of this decision, Munir Ahmed and his wife rushed to the High Court and requested that the Court ask the authorities to consider the wife’s application for a long-term visa so that she could continue to stay in India.
It was informed in Court that the wife’s short-term visa had expired on March 22. After her visa expired, she was given an Exit Permit, meaning she had to leave India. However, after she filed a request, the authorities cancelled the Exit Permit and started re-examining her situation.
The petitioners’ lawyer told the Court that the couple had got married online, with Munir Ahmed in Jammu and his wife in Pakistan. But the Court had some serious doubts about this.
It pointed out that the marriage certificate mentioned a physical address in Jammu, which suggests the marriage may have taken place in person, not online.
The Court asked the Central Government to look into this and clarify whether such an online marriage is legally valid in India. It said this is an important point that needs attention.
The judge stated:
“The very fact that the place of Nikah is shown to be Handwal Jammu, per-se, meant that the marriage was solemnized in physical mode taking place at Jammu which is not the factual situation in the present case as the purported marriage came to take place by online mode that is the petitioner No. 2 was in Pakistan at her residential house and the petitioner No. 1 in UT of J&K at his own house.”
The Court made it clear that it is not in a position to grant a long-term visa and that this decision lies with the Government of India. The bench said that since the woman is a Pakistani national and is currently staying in India on an expired visa, her legal status will depend on what the Union Government decides.
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In clear words, the Court observed:
“This Court has no issue with this aspect of the case that the petitioner No. 2’s case is under consideration but as and when that consideration would come from the Government of India’s end through its concerned Ministry, the petitioner No. 2 would accordingly become either the beneficiary or the non-beneficiary of the outcome, so as to govern her status whether to be in India for all time to come as wife of petitioner No. 1 or to stay back in Pakistan continuing to be the wife of the petitioner No. 1.”
In this case, Advocate Ankur Sharma appeared on behalf of the petitioners (the CRPF personnel and his wife), while Deputy Solicitor General Vishal Sharma and Senior Additional Advocate General Monika Kohli represented the respondents — the Union of India and Jammu & Kashmir government.
This case raises key legal questions about the validity of online cross-border marriages, the status of Pakistani nationals married to Indian citizens, and the authority of the government in deciding visa-related matters during times of national security concerns.
The final verdict of the High Court will depend on how the Government of India responds to these issues by May 14.
Case Title:
Munir Ahmed V/s Union of India
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