The MHA has decided to grant a visitor visa to Rakshanda Rashid, a Pakistani woman deported post-Pahalgam attack. The Jammu & Kashmir High Court dismissed her plea after the Centre’s assurance.
New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has informed the High Court of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh that it has decided to grant a visitor visa to Rakshanda Rashid, a 62-year-old Pakistani woman who was recently deported from Jammu following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
This update led the High Court to dismiss her petition, where she had asked to return to her family living in Jammu.
Rashid, who is originally from Islamabad, Pakistan, married an Indian citizen Sheikh Zahoor Ahmed 35 years ago in Jammu.
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Despite being legally present in India on a Long-Term Visa (LTV) for several years, she was deported as part of a wider move by the Indian government to send back Pakistani nationals residing in the country after the terror attack that killed 26 people in Pahalgam.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the MHA, told the division bench of Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal that
“after considerable deliberation and in light of the peculiar circumstances of this case”,
the government had taken “an in-principle decision” to allow Rashid a visitor visa.
The court acknowledged this statement and mentioned in its order that
“once an in-principle decision is taken by the competent authority, there is hardly any doubt that, post compliance of the requisite procedures and formalities, the authority would process and accord a visitor’s visa to the respondent at the earliest.”
However, the bench made it clear that this decision should not be considered as a general precedent, noting that the MHA’s order
“should not constitute a precedent in any manner.”
Rashid had earlier approached the High Court through a writ petition, seeking relief against her deportation.
She had also submitted two applications—one to acquire Indian citizenship and another to seek a long-term visa. The bench noted that she is free to pursue both these applications.
Earlier, on July 22, Solicitor General Mehta had requested the court to delay the proceedings so that he could examine whether there was still any way to help Rashid.
Her legal representatives, advocates Ankur Sharma and Himani Khajuria, told the court that
“she was agreeable to the course suggested by the Solicitor General.”
Back in June, Justice Rahul Bharti of the High Court had directed the Union government to bring Rashid back to India. At that time, the judge had noted that
“This court is bearing in mind the background reference that the petitioner was having long-term visa (LTV) status at the relevant point of time, which per se may not have warranted her deportation, but without examining her case in a better perspective and coming up with a proper order with respect to her deportation from the authorities concerned, she came to be forced out.”
Rashid was served a “Leave India Notice” on April 28 under Sections 3(1), 7(1), and 2(c) of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 1946, issued by the Criminal Investigation Department.
The notice asked her to exit the country by or before April 29. Despite approaching the High Court for interim relief to stop the operation of the notice, she was issued an exit permit and escorted by officials to the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar, where she crossed into Pakistan.
Rashid, a long-time resident of Talab Khatikan in Jammu, has four children who still live in Jammu and Kashmir.
She first entered India on February 10, 1990, via Attari on a 14-day visitor visa and was later granted an LTV that was renewed every year. During her time in India, she married an Indian citizen.
The court also pointed out that
“It wasn’t disputed either that her LTV was valid up to January 13, 2025, and she had applied for an extension on January 4, 2025. But no such extension was ever accorded.”
Her husband, Zahoor Ahmed, expressed relief over the new development and thanked the judiciary, saying,
“We are relieved… The entire family was under tension. We were suffering due to the decision (to deport her).”
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