The vacation bench of the Bombay High Court today granted a temporary stay on deportation of a Pakistani national, who claimed to have crossed the Indo-Pak border by mistake during his childhood and grew up here earning his livelihood as a waiter.
Hearing a petition filed by Sajida Khan, wife of Pakistani national Siraj Khan, justices S C Gupte and K R Sriram directed that the matter be placed before a regular bench of the high court on June 9 after the vacation and said till then he would not be deported.
Siraj claims to have crossed the Indo-Pak border by mistake during his childhood and that he grew up here earning his livelihood as a waiter.
The petition said Sajida, an Indian national, married Siraj in 2005. She has moved the HC praying that her husband's deportation be stayed till his application for the Indian citizenship, pending with the central government, is decided.
Her lawyer Yousef Khan said Siraj was willing to renounce his Pakistani citizenship. The couple has two sons and a daughter and Siraj is the only breadwinner in the family, he said.
The counsel submitted that Siraj entered Indian territory along the Gujarat border when he was 11-years-old and was put up in a children's remand home after being caught travelling on a train without ticket. After his release, he landed up in Mumbai.
On January 4, this year, a magistrate in Dadar here convicted Siraj under the Passport (Entry into India) Rules and the Foreigners Act. He served a sentence in jail until June 3. Immediately thereafter, he was detained by Mumbai Police under the provisions of Foreigners Order.
The petition has pleaded that Siraj may be released from jail forthwith so that he can take up a job and earn livelihood for his family.
