New Delhi:
The Indian Supreme Court has declined the plea of a Pakistani national seeking a visa extension to stay in India, saying this matter was for the Executive branch of government to deal with, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.
The head of the three member bench making the call, Justice Dipak Misra, said the Supreme Court cannot allow the request of Syed Waseem Ur Rehman, a Sufi cleric, who had appealed to the apex court against a Bombay High Court order deporting him and his wife.
“That (extension of visa) will be a call to be taken by the Executive. We cannot extend visa if the government is not allowing it,” the bench, also comprising Justices R Banumathi and Mohan M Shantanagoudar, asserted.
Rehman’s lawyer had pleaded to the bench that the government be asked to take a “compassionate view” in the matter as there was no adverse report against him or his wife.
The apex court did not accept the contentions and said it was for the government to take such a decision. His counsel tried to argue that Rehman be granted time to make a representation before the government in the matter but the bench refused, saying “we cannot allow it.”
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing the Centre, opposed the plea and told the bench that the couple had given an undertaking before the high court that they would leave India.
The couple has been staying in India since October 2010.
The high court had dismissed their plea against last year’s order of Mumbai’s foreigner regional registration officer who had refused to extend their visa.
