The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has asked the state and Central governments to expedite the confirmation of residential address of Rubina Akthar, who has been in jail since 6 November 2012 along with her minor son when she was arrested at Kanachak in Jammu. She had crossed the border inadvertently and did not know the way to her home, according to her interrogation report.
Her lawyer Mir Shafqat Hussain told The Sunday Guardian that the High Court has described the case of Rubina and her minor son as a “glaring example of human tragedy”. The court in its fresh directions to the state and the Union governments has said that it was the duty of the authorities to secure confirmation about Rubina’s nationality at the earliest.
Shafaqat said that he has been pleading the J&K HC for Rubina’s deportation to Pakistan as she was booked under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act. He said that in 2014 the court ordered the deportation of Rubina to Pakistan and asked the authorities to confirm her address before sending her and gave them four weeks’ time to complete the process. The court order, Shafqat lamented, was not implemented and he moved on behalf of Rubina to the court with a contempt petition.
The state and the Union governments have argued in court that the authorities of the Pakistan embassy did not confirm the nationality of the petitioner on the basis of particulars furnished by her. Shafqat told this newspaper that after a lot of efforts he was able to get more details about the residential address of Rubina in Pakistan. He said on 30 March 2016 he moved an application before J&K High Court furnishing the fresh details of her residential proof.
The court has been informed that the Ministry of External affairs has taken up the matter of Rubina with Pakistan High Commission for the confirmation of her nationality and the issue of travel documents so that she could be repatriated to Pakistan along with her son. The court has been further informed that the MEA has not received any confirmation about Rubina’s nationality. The government has said that unless the Pakistani High Commission in India will not confirm her nationality, she cannot be repatriated to Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the court said the authorities should keep in view the human aspect of the matter and has asked them to take firm steps for settling the status of Rubina and her son at the earliest. The court has expressed concern over the fate and future of her minor son and has asked the authorities to take all possible steps to secure his future and send him back to his country.
Mir Shafqat Hussain said the Division Bench of J&K High Court has listed the case in the first week of Feburary 2017 with clear directions to the state and Union government to settle the case of Rubina and her son without any further delay.