HC order brings back Pakistani woman from Attari for reunion with CRPF trooper husband | India News

SRINAGAR: Pakistan national Meenal Ahmed Khan was reunited with her husband, CRPF trooper Munir Khan, on J&K high court’s orders this week after being escorted back to Jammu from the Attari border checkpoint in Punjab moments before she was to be deported.
Her lawyer and BJP spokesperson Ankur Sharma said Meenal, who married Munir in Jan and entered India on a tourist visa valid till March 22, was eligible for a long-term visa by virtue of being an Indian citizen’s wife.
Sharma said Munir, who moved court last Tuesday after his wife received a deportation notice, didn’t breach service rules by marrying a Pakistani as he officially intimated the CRPF headquarters about it before the wedding.
“Meenal’s long-term visa is under the ‘deemed granted’ category and on this basis, we filed a petition against her deportation,” he said. “The court passed an interim order against her deportation and she returned from Attari on Wednesday. She was saved at the last moment.”
The newlyweds were just about settling in when the April 22 Pakistan-backed terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam tore their lives asunder along with those of many others.
Lawyer Sharma cited a clarification from MHA that the order cancelling visas to Pakistanis wasn’t applicable to diplomatic and long-term visas.
“Meenal was interviewed and recommended a long-term visa before the deportation exercise triggered by the Pahalgam attack started,” he said.
On whether a Islamic marriage solemnised online by a qazi was legally valid, the lawyer said the Union govt recognised the wedding by issuing a visa to Meenal “as the wife of Munir Khan”.
While the high court didn’t stay Meenal’s deportation, it said she should be allowed to stay in Jammu until her visa status was clear. The case will be next heard on May 14.
The court said the onus was on the Union govt to decide whether a long-term visa should be issued to Munir’s wife, also noting that her short-term visa had lapsed more than a month ago.