The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court on April 29 stayed deportation of four members of a family who were at risk of being deported from India on allegations that they were Pakistani citizens, a Bar and Bench report said on Thursday. The members included a police constable of the Indian Reserve Police (IRP).

The central government on April 23 suspended the SAARC Special Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) and cancelled all visas issued to Pakistani nationals. The government order also directed Pakistani nationals to leave India by April 30. On May 1, the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar remained open for Pakistani nationals exiting India.

These decisions were some of the measures taken by the Union government following a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam district which killed 26 civilians on April 22.

What the petition said

According to the report, the four petitioners, all from the same family and Poonch residents, said that they too would be forced to leave India on allegations that they were Pakistanis. Denying the allegations, they said that they were bona fide residents of Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district.

The petitioners from village Salwah in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district, said they had been residing in India for decades and possessed land revenue records dating back to 2014.

They claimed that they were being “wrongfully targetted”. The family had approached the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court after they were detained and faced imminent deportation from India, the Bar and Bench report said.

What the court said

Justice Rahul Bharti observed that there was sufficient material, including revenue documents and police service records, to show that the petitioners were Poonch residents, the report said.

The court stayed any move to deport the petitioners from India for the time being, although it added that this direction would be subject to objections from the government’s side.

“… Petitioners be not asked or forced to leave UT of Jammu & Kashmir. This direction is, however, subject to objections from the other side,” the court’s order said.

Further, the court sought a detailed affidavit from the deputy commissioner of Poonch regarding the petitioners’ landholdings and status in their village.

The respondent-authorities have been asked to file their replies within two weeks. The matter will be heard next on May 20, 2025.