Stay on deportation of three Keralites

The Kerala High Court has stayed the deportation of three Keralites holding Pakistani passports.

The stay came even as the Superintendent of Police in Kannur in north Kerala initiated steps to arrest and deport the three - Kannipoyil Moidu, Pulloorkara Muhamed (Ahmed) and Ayyattuveettil Munjhamed.

The court move followed a petition from the trio seeking to quash proceedings to arrest and detain them in civil prison for subsequent deportation to Pakistan under the Foreigners Act.

In his petition Mohammed said he was an Indian citizen who worked as a head-load worker along with his father. He said seeking greener pastures he moved to Kudaku in Karnataka, then to Mumbai and from there to Karachi.

The Karachi trip was arranged by a travel agent who told him about better job opportunities there. Finally, he went to Dubai where he worked till 1996.

He maintained that he had not relinquished his Indian nationality he had acquired by birth and domicile. There was no intention to settle down in Pakistan as he was treated by people there as an Indian.

The petitioner said he had visited his native place where his parents lived on a Pakistani passport as advised by a travel agent. He took the Pakistani passport under duress and, therefore, it could not be concluded that he was a Pakistani on the basis of the passport.

Mohammed said he was now more than 70 years old and suffering from several ailments.

He pleaded that he be allowed to spend the rest of his life with his 99-year-old mother, wife and children, including a handicapped daughter. Many similar petitions are pending before the High Court and most of the petitioners are old.

About 600 people holding passports of countries like Pakistan, Singapore and Malaysia are residing in Kerala.