Woman Deported To Pakistan After Pahalgam Attack Allowed To Return On Visitor's Visa
Rakshanda, daughter of Mohd Rashid and resident of Islamabad, had originally entered India on February 10, 1990, through Attari on a 14-day visitor visa.
Published : August 1, 2025 at 2:15 PM IST
|Updated : August 2, 2025 at 7:37 AM IST
Srinagar: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has allowed Pakistani national Rakshanda Rashid, who had been deported in April, to re-enter India on a visitor visa, after the Union government informed the bench of an "in principle" decision to allow her return.
"Once an in-principle decision is taken by the competent authority, there is hardly any room for any doubt," said Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta during the virtual mode hearing, assuring the bench that the procedural formalities for issuing a visitor visa would now be expedited.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal was hearing two Letters Patent Appeals filed by the Union of India against a single-judge order dated June 6, 2025, which had directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to bring Rakshanda back to India within ten days. That order, now overtaken by the new agreement between the parties, was effectively rendered null by the court's three-page order.
Rakshanda, daughter of Mohd Rashid and resident of Islamabad, had originally entered India on February 10, 1990, through Attari on a 14-day visitor visa to visit Jammu. Over time, her stay was legitimised through annual long-term visa (LTV) renewals, and she reportedly married an Indian national.
However, after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in April, the Ministry of Home Affairs revoked all visas of Pakistani nationals under Section 3(1) of the Foreigners Act, 1946. On April 28, Rakshanda was served a Leave India Notice by the CID (Special Branch Jammu), directing her to exit the country by the next day.
Despite having filed a writ petition (WP(C) No.1072/2025) and seeking interim relief, Rakshanda was escorted to the Wagah-Attari border on April 29 and deported. Her petition was heard even as she was already back in Pakistan.
The single judge's ruling, which caused a stir in national security and human rights circles, directed her return, but was quickly challenged by the Centre.
On July 2, 2025, the division bench had stayed the single-judge order. However, on July 22, a change in tone emerged. Mehta requested that the hearing be deferred as he sought to “explore if the respondent could be helped in any manner.”
By July 30, Mehta returned with an update: “After much deliberation and considering the peculiarity of facts and unusual factual position obtaining in the matter, an in-principle decision is taken by the authority to grant a visitor’s visa to the respondent.”
Senior advocate Surinder Kour, appearing for Rakshanda, welcomed the decision. “She is fully agreeable to the course suggested by the learned Solicitor General,” she said, and informed the court that Rakshanda would withdraw her writ petition.
While disposing of the appeals and noting the mutual agreement between parties, the bench was careful to limit the scope of the order. “We may, however, hasten to clarify that in principle decision taken by the authorities centred upon the peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case shall not constitute a precedent in any manner,” the order said.
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