The query was posed by a division bench of Justices A S Oka and S S Jadhav while hearing a petition filed by Siraj Khan, native of PoK, seeking directions to police to deport him back to his village Manshera in PoK and also to quash the case registered against him for entering India without valid passport.
According to Siraj, he had entered Indian territory by "mistake" when he was nine years old and continued staying here.
In 2000, when Siraj approached the police seeking deportation, he was booked under various sections of Foreigner Citizens Act and Passport Act.
In an earlier hearing, the state government had told the court that PoK was part of Indian territory and hence it was withdrawing the case registered against Siraj.
Siraj's lawyer Ejaz Naqvi told the court that Siraj and his wife are Pakistani nationals and should be hence sent back.
The high court today directed the state government to clarify its stand on whether it can prosecute a person from PoK claiming to be a Pakistani national.
"If the statement of the petitioner that he is a Pakistani national is not ignored then the stand taken by the state would be incorrect," Justice Oka said.
The matter has been posted for hearing on October 15.
