Srinagar
The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to facilitate the return of Rakshanda Rashid, a 63-year-old Pakistani national who was deported from India earlier this year, declaring that human rights must be upheld at all costs. The directive was issued by Justice Rahul Bharti on June 6 and instructed the central government to ensure Rashid's return within 10 days and file a compliance report by July 1.
The court’s order came in response to a petition filed by Rashid’s daughter, Falak Zahoor, who informed the bench that her mother—critically ill and with no support system in Pakistan—had lived in India for nearly four decades on a valid long-term visa. She was deported on April 30, the very day a hearing was scheduled on her legal plea challenging the deportation. The court expressed serious concern over the timing and manner of her removal.
Justice Bharti observed that no formal hearing or detailed order preceded the deportation and that the decision should have been made based on the case’s merit. Human rights are the most sacrosanct component of a human life, he wrote in the judgment, adding that constitutional courts must sometimes offer emergency relief, even before all legal arguments have been fully considered.
The court’s intervention has placed the spotlight on procedural lapses and the importance of balancing national policies with individual rights, especially in humanitarian situations.