Can't deport Pakistani man till his citizenship plea decided: Supreme Court

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 25

The Supreme Court has stayed the deportation of a Pakistani man married to an Indian woman in Godhra, Gujarat, till his citizenship plea is decided.

A Bench led by Justice Surya Kant issued notice on Akil Valibhai Piplodwala’s petition seeking a direction the authorities not to deport him to Pakistan until his claim to be an Indian citizen was adjudicated upon.

The Bench asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Godhra District Superintendent of Police and the Gujarat Government to respond to the petition filed by Piplodwala who claimed Indian citizenship under Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act.

The petitioner has challenged the Gujarat HC’s August 2 order upholding the District Judge’s order dismissing his appeal. The HC had held there was no substantial question of law involved in the case.

Earlier, a civil judge had partly allowed his plea and said he should not be deported until his application under the Citizenship Act was decided. However, on an appeal filed by the petitioner, the Principal District Judge set aside the Civil Judge’s order on July 12, 2022.

Claiming to have born at Godhra in 1962, the petitioner submitted he completed his education in India and moved to Pakistan in 1976 only to return to India in 1983. A year later, he got married to an Indian woman and the couple had three children from the wedlock.

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