STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has dismissed an appeal filed by an elderly couple from Srinagar, declaring them Pakistani nationals illegally overstaying in India since 1988, and ordered that they must leave the country immediately as their visas expired nearly four decades ago.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal delivered the judgment in LPA No. 170/2025, filed by Mohd. Khalil Qazi (80) and his wife Arifa Qazi (61). The appellants were represented by senior advocate A.H. Naik, while the government was represented by senior AAG Mohsin Qadiri with Maha Majeed for the J&K administration, and DSGI T.M. Shamsi with advocate Rehana Qayoom for the Union of India.
The couple had entered India in July 1988 on 14-day visas and residential permits, later extended till November 1988. Claiming ancestral property and family ties in Srinagar, they argued that they were Indian citizens forced to acquire Pakistani nationality in 1948 and had applied for Indian citizenship. Their counsel argued that deportation was illegal pending consideration of their representation, relying on earlier case law.
The UT administration, however, pointed out that the couple admitted to holding Pakistani passports and citizenship. Citing Section 9(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, it argued that voluntary acquisition of another country’s citizenship terminates Indian citizenship. The Union of India stressed that under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, no foreigner can remain in India without valid visa or documents.
The bench found glaring contradictions in Khalil Qazi’s story. Though he claimed to have been stranded in Pakistan since 1948, his own school certificate showed he studied in Srinagar between 1955 and 1957, proving concealment of facts. “The appellants have not approached this Court with clean hands and concocted false stories to prolong their illegal stay,” the judges said.
Quoting Supreme Court rulings in Dalip Singh v. State of U.P. and Moti Lal Songara v. Prem Prakash, the bench stressed that litigants who suppress facts and mislead courts are not entitled to any relief. It further observed that foreign nationals cannot claim rights of residence under Article 19 and that the government has “absolute and unlimited power” to expel foreigners, as settled in Louis De Raedt v. Union of India.
Upholding the writ court’s dismissal of their petition, the Division Bench ruled that the couple, having no valid visa or document, “cannot remain in India even for a second.” The appeal was dismissed as “bereft of merit,” with the court making it clear that they must return to Pakistan.