Supreme Court pauses deportation of PoK-born man, family with Indian documents

The Supreme Court has provided temporary relief to a family confronting deportation, even though they possess Indian passports, Aadhaar cards, and voter IDs. The court halted the decision to deport six suspected Pakistani nationals to Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror incident and instructed the petitioners to bring their case before the relevant authorities.

Petitioner Ahmed Tariq Butt, a resident of Bengaluru who was born in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), contended that his family was being forcibly transported to the Attari Wagah border despite their Indian citizenship. He informed the court that they were held at the border, despite having legitimate Indian documents, such as passports issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. Tariq Butt’s father originates from Mirpur in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, whereas his mother was born in Srinagar.

As per the petition, Tariq Butt resided in Mirpur, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, until 1997 before he crossed the border and relocated to Srinagar. He spent multiple years in the Kashmir Valley and now lives in Bengaluru. Tariq subsequently obtained a management degree from IIM Kozhikode and is presently employed at an IT company in Bengaluru.

Butt stated in his application that he and his family hold Indian passports and Aadhaar cards. His family consists of his sister Ayesha Tariq and his brothers Abubakar Tariq and Umar Tariq Butt. As stated in the petition, the family resided in Mirpur, yet his birth location is recorded as Srinagar on the passport.

The petition states that the Foreigners’ Regional Officer (FRO) incorrectly asserted that the family arrived in India in 1997 using Pakistani visas and needed to depart once their visas lapsed. The petitioner refuted this, claiming they were never citizens of Pakistan and had never arrived in India with a visa.