In response to a deportation notice issued to serving police constable Iftkhan Ali, and his eight siblings, based in Salwah in Pooch, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Tuesday granted them relief.
However, by that time, the authorities had already taken them to the Attari border in Punjab, and they have been missing since, The Indian Express reported.
The notice by the Poonch Deputy Commission, dated April 26, had been received by Jammu and Kashmir Police Constable Iftkhar Ali, 45; his elder brothers Zulfqar Ali, 49, Mohammad Shafiq, 60, Mohammad Shakoor, 52; and his sisters Shazia Tabsam, 42, Kouser Parveen, 47, Naseem Akhter, 50, Akseer Akhtar, 54, and Nashroon Akhter, 56, on Sunday. The notice was sent in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam attack which unleashed a series of diplomatic measures, including India asking all Pakistanis not holding long-term, official or diplomatic visas to leave the country at the earliest.
They were taken to the Attari border on Monday by the police, according to The Indian Express.
However, on Tuesday, Justice Rahul Bharti ruled that the nine petitioners - Iftkhar Ali and siblings - 바카라not be asked or forced to leave UT of Jammu & Kashmir바카라, since that 바카라prima facie a case is made out바카라 that they are not Pakistani citizens, therefore they do not have to leave India.
The next date of hearing is May 20. The High Court has also asked Poonc바카라s Deputy Commissioner for documents of any property held by the petitioners in their own name, or in the name of their late father Faqur Din in Salwah, according to The Indian Express.
What is Iftkhar바카라s petition?
PTI reported that Iftkhar Ali has been serving in the Jammu and Kashmir Police for 27 years. Currently, he is posted at the Katra base camp for the Vaishno Devi shrine.
His siblings stated that their late father Faqur Din was a 바카라hereditary state subject바카라 and an Indian citizen according to the 1955 Citizenship Act. Hereditary state subject is a legal status recognized in Jammu and Kashmir before 2019바카라s abrogation of article 370 which revoked the state바카라s special constitutional status.
Previously, a 'hereditary State subject' meant anyone who was born and was living in Jammu and Kashmir before Maharaja Gulab Singh바카라s rule began, as well as those who settled in the State before the year Samvat 1942 and have lived there permanently since then.
According to the siblings, Faqur Din also owned a house and about 17 acres of land at Salwah village.
Additionally, at the time of enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir바카라s Constitution in 1957, he was a permanent resident in the state.
The Indian Express reported that things complicated during the 1965 India-Pakistan war, when the latter took control over the regions where Faqur Din, his wife and three children resided. Even after the war ended, the family could not return to their native land. They had to live in a camp in Tralhal, which is in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. They had more children there.
Iftkhar바카라s petition included that his late father made representations to the Pakistan government to allow them to their native village of Salwah.
The family came back sometime between 1980s-1990s, according to the local villagers, The Indian Express stated.
Faqur Din바카라s petition to not be moved out of the state was declined by the High Court. Later in 1997, Iftkar Ali received a state subject status given by the state바카라s authorities. His siblings also received the status in 2000.
The state subject status of the nine siblings were later cancelled reportedly on the basis of 바카라false바카라 and 바카라frivolous바카라 complaints by their relatives, who covet their land, The Indian Express reported. The petition of their nationality is still pending with the Central government.
According to their counsel, their multiple petitions remain with the court requesting to direct authorities for a verdict.
