A 27-year-old woman, who has been held guilty of obtaining the Indian passport using forged documents, wants to go back to Pakistan to renew her citizenship (Shanakhti) card and meet her parents. The sessions court on Friday, however, turned down the request of Khatija Rangwala, a homemaker originally from Pakistan, to travel to Karachi. With her plea, Rangwala attached the Aadhaar cards of her husband and two children who are Indian citizens and also a copy of her Shanakhti card.
Rangwala contended she has been in India for the last 15 years and has not met her parents. She pleaded that she is ready to abide by all conditions if allowed to go to Pakistan. She also claimed that she had approached the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi for the renewal of her passport as her Shanakhti card lapsed in 2015. She claimed that the Pakistani High Commission told her that the passport cannot be renewed unless she renews her Shanakhti card.
The woman stated that the card can be renewed only in person. Besides, she also requires a NORI clearance (no objection to return to India) from the Indian authorities.
The plea was objected to by public prosecutor KF Tadavi, who expressed the apprehension that she might not return to India. Tadvi further contended that she had cheated the Indian authorities by filing an affidavit that she is an Indian citizen and all her documents (birth proof and proof of education and other papers) were lost in the Godhra riots.
However, verification revealed that she is a Pakistani national residing in India without a valid visa. The woman was booked by the JJ Marg police in 2010 for forgery.
Based on the prosecution’s evidence, Rangwala was sentenced to two years in prison by the metropolitan magistrate court, Mazgaon, in August 2012. She later chalenged the verdict before the sessions court. Her appeal was admitted and the sentence was suspended. With her appeal pending, she approached the court seeking permission to visit Karachi.
Sessions court judge Vishal Gaike noted that the charges of forgery and the offences under the Indian Passports Act are proved against her. The court further said that though her conviction has been suspended till the disposal of her appeal, she cannot travel to Pakistan. When contacted by the FPJ, her counsel expressed her inability to comment on the case.
