The Supreme Court has stopped the deportation of a Srinagar-based family with Indian documents. The Court asked the government to verify their claims of citizenship before taking any further action. 

The Supreme Court of India on Friday gave interim protection to a family living in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, stopping the government from deporting them to Pakistan for now. The family had approached the top court, saying they are Indian citizens and have documents to prove it. These include Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, voter ID cards, and Indian passports.

The case comes at a time when tensions between India and Pakistan have risen following the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22. After the attack, the Indian government had suspended visa services for Pakistani nationals and asked all Pakistanis in India to leave by April 27.

The family consists of a married couple and their four children. One of them was born in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), but he had surrendered his Pakistani passport a long time ago, their lawyer said. The rest of the family lives in Srinagar, and one member was working in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

During the hearing, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and NK Singh told the government not to take any action, such as deportation, until it verifies all the facts. The Court said the government must first look at the documents the family has and take a proper decision. Until then, no coercive action should be taken.

“There are human concerns here, and we need to verify the facts. This matter has unique circumstances,” said the Court. It made it clear that this order should not be treated as a precedent for other cases. “This is a special case and should not be seen as a general rule,” it said.

The Court also advised that if the government decides to deport the family after the verification, the family can go to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court for further help. “If the final decision is not in favour of the petitioners, they can move the Jammu and Kashmir High Court,” the bench said.

Representing the family, Advocate Nanda Kishore told the Court that all the family members have valid Indian identification documents. He explained that the family was arrested even though they had not done anything wrong. “We are not illegal migrants. We have Aadhaar, PAN, voter ID, and Indian passports,” he said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, told the Court that the matter could be better handled by government authorities first. However, the Court felt the situation needed careful consideration due to the family’s claims and the seriousness of the issue.

In conclusion, the Supreme Court ended the matter for now by telling the authorities to quickly verify the family's citizenship status. It also ruled that no action, including deportation, should be taken until that is done. The judges said the case involves facts that need checking, and the top court was not the right forum to do a detailed probe.

This decision gives temporary relief to the family while the government verifies their documents and nationality claims.