High Court orders return of woman deported during Operation Sindoor

June 24, 2025 by News Desk

In a major ruling highlighting human rights concerns amid national security operations, the High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh has ordered the repatriation of Rakshanda Rashid, a woman deported to Pakistan earlier this year during Operation Sindoor, the government’s crackdown following the Pahalgam massacre.

Justice Rahul Bharti issued the direction while hearing a writ petition (WP(C) No. 1072/2025) filed by Rashid’s husband, Sheikh Zahoor Ahmed. He challenged her deportation, arguing that she had been living in Jammu and Kashmir for years and held a Long-Term Visa (LTV), which should have protected her from expulsion.

The court expressed deep concern over Rashid’s health and humanitarian situation, noting that she had no family or support in Pakistan. Justice Bharti emphasized that “human rights are the most sacrosanct component of a human life” and said constitutional courts are sometimes compelled to act with “SOS-like indulgence” in exceptional circumstances.

Without proper legal scrutiny or a formal deportation order, Rashid was expelled during what critics have described as a mass repatriation drive that failed to account for individual legal statuses. The court noted that Rashid’s LTV may have made her ineligible for deportation and criticized authorities for acting without due process.

“She has no one in Pakistan for her care and custody,” her husband told the court, adding that she was gravely ill and left alone in a country where she had never lived independently.

The court has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to coordinate her return from Pakistan within ten days and facilitate her reunion with her husband in Jammu. A compliance report is to be submitted by July 1.

Advocate Himani Khajuria represented the petitioner, while Deputy Solicitor General Vishal Sharma appeared for the Union of India.

This marks the first major judicial intervention in response to Operation Sindoor, raising serious questions about the treatment of women who had entered Jammu Kashmir under previous cross-border rehabilitation policies. Many such women—brought in as spouses of former militants returning from Pakistan—remain in legal limbo, lacking citizenship or travel rights despite having lived in the region for over a decade.

The ruling could have wide-ranging implications for similar cases across Jammu Kashmir.