Supreme Court halts deportation of PoK-born family with Indian documents

The Supreme Court of India has paused the deportation of a family with roots in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), granting interim relief after they claimed Indian citizenship and held valid Indian documents. The court issued a stay on the deportation of six family members, allowing them time to present their case to the relevant authorities.

The case was filed by Ahmed Tariq Butt, a Bengaluru-based IIM graduate, who alleged that his family—despite holding Indian passports, Aadhaar cards, and voter IDs—was being forcibly taken to the Attari-Wagah border. Butt stated that while some family members live in Srinagar, others work and reside in Bengaluru.

The family contended they were wrongly identified as Pakistani nationals who had overstayed their visas, a claim they denied. According to the petition, they never entered India on a visa and had no legal ties to Pakistan beyond ancestral origin. Their documents, including Indian passports issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, list Srinagar as their birthplace.

Tariq Butt’s father hails from Mirpur in PoK, while his mother was born in Srinagar. He lived in the Kashmir Valley from 1997 onward and now works in the IT sector. The petitioner claimed that the family has lawfully lived in India for decades and should not be subjected to deportation based on misidentification.

The petition comes amid a wider push by Indian authorities to deport Pakistani nationals on short-term visas following the April terror attack in Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives. The court’s decision to stay the deportation offers temporary protection while legal review continues.