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The Andhra Pradesh high court on Tuesday rejected a writ petition filed by a Pakistani woman challenging the state government's decision to deport her.
Justice V V S Rao, pronouncing the orders dismissing the plea of Tasleem, said that the copy of the judgment would be made available on August 19. Tasleem is likely to file an appeal against the single judge's order before a larger bench after getting a copy of the judgment.
Tasleem is the wife of Mohammed Jaweed Azmath, a non-resident Indian held in the United States in connection with a credit card fraud case. She contended that she is the legally wedded wife of an Indian and a child has also been born to her in India and that she cannot be deported in contravention of principles of natural justice.
Earlier on August 8, the judge had reserved the orders after hearing the arguments of Tasleem's lawyer and the counsels for the state and central governments.
The counsel for the state government had submitted before the court that Tasleem had no legal right to live in India after the state served the deportation order on June 17. He contended that the deportation order was served after due inquiries by the police and that the action was taken in national interest.
The counsel further pointed out that Tasleem's husband, Azmath, was not only caught in the US under suspicious circumstances but he also furnished false information to Indian authorities to get a passport in 1999. Azmath has been charged with obtaining four passports besides claiming that he married Tasleem in 1999, though the marriage actually took place in March last year.
Tasleem's lawyer Niranjan Reddy pleaded that the petitioner be allowed to remain in India to take care of her seven-month-old son and her aged in-laws. He also challenged the material on the basis of which the deportation order was served.
The counsel said Tasleem had been abiding by all the Indian laws and she was not involved in any activity detrimental to the national interest. He pointed out that Azmath had not been charged with terrorism or any act of violence in the US and that his New York-based lawyer, Anthony L Ricco, had sent a communication to the high court to this effect.
Azmath and another Indian, Ayub Ali Khan, were arrested in the US a day after September 11 attacks last year.
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