J&K Cop, His Eight Siblings Return From Punjab After High Court Stays Deportation

Last Updated:May 01, 2025, 08:52 IST

In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22, the Centre ordered all Pakistanis on short-term visas to leave India by April 27 or face action.

Ali, a J-K cop, along with his eight siblings, was sent to Punjab (Representative image)

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court suspended the deportation of a police personnel and his eight siblings. The order from the court came after a petition was filed claiming that Ifthkar Ali, 45, and his eight siblings, including five sisters aged between 42 and 56 years, have been residing in Salwah village for generations.

Ali, who is currently posted in the Katra base camp of the Vaishno Devi shrine, has served the police department for the last 27 years. He, along with his eight siblings, was shifted to Punjab from Jammu-Kashmir for deportation to Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border.

“(The) petitioners be not asked or forced to leave the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This direction is, however, subject to objections from the other side,” Justice Rahul Bharti ordered after hearing the plea filed by Ali.

Ali and his siblings were among the over two dozen people who received deportation notices from authorities in Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu districts. They were sent to Punjab from Jammu and Kashmir for deportation on Wednesday morning.

The deportation of Pakistani nationals comes in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22 that left 26 tourists dead. Taking cognisance of the attack, the Centre downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan and took several strong measures. India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, closed the Attari Border, and ordered all Pakistanis on short-term visas to leave India by April 27 or face action.

Some Pakistani women who married the residents of Jammu and Kashmir have already been sent to Pakistan, while several are still waiting at the Attari Border to be deported, reported PTI, citing officials.

Meanwhile, speaking about the court’s order in Ali’s case, socio-political activist Safeer Choudhary said, “The deportation of Ali and his siblings was put on hold by the court’s orders. The authorities have released them, and they are being brought back from Punjab.”

Earlier in the day, Choudhary, who was staging a protest with the wife and two minor children of Ali, had mentioned that neither civil nor police officers were taking responsibility for implementing the court order.

“We received the copy of the court order on Wednesday morning and immediately took up the matter with the Poonch district administration…. To our surprise, neither civil nor police officers are taking the responsibility to implement the court order,” he told PTI.

“They are residents of Poonch, with Ali serving the police department for nearly three decades. Ali’s father went to PoK in 1965 but returned in 1983 and is buried in his ancestral graveyard. They have more than 175 kanals of land according to revenue records and also possess all the documents,” he said.

Location :

Jammu and Kashmir, India, India

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