Telangana HC asks Centre, state to clarify ‘way out’ for ‘Pakistani national’ living in Hyderabad for 3 decades without visa or passport

Razvi claims that he was born in Hyderabad, completed his education there, and hold several Indian IDs, such as an Aadhaar card, Voter ID, PAN card, driver’s licence, and school leaving certificate, but not an Indian passport.

Advocate S Sridhar, appearing for Razvi, informed the court that when the appellant was born in 1992, the mother was still a holder of an Indian passport. He submitted that Razvi wants to continue living in India as an Indian citizen but has never applied for an Indian passport or a long-term visa.

“What can be the way out for a person placed in his circumstances. First apply for a long-term visa and then apply for a passport?” the bench asked.

Government Pleader Mahesh Raje, representing the Telangana Home Department, replied that if Razvi applies for a long-term visa, then he cannot apply for an Indian passport. “You get instructions as to what is the way out. Then, we can keep it after two weeks,” the bench said.

‘He was born in Karachi’

The Special Branch of the Hyderabad police, which handles cases involving Pakistani nationals, investigated Razvi’s stay in India, treating it as illegal.

His mother, Gohar Fathima, who is originally an Indian citizen, married a Pakistani national and moved to the neighbouring country in 1991. Following alleged marital torture and discord, she returned to India in 1994 with a Pakistani passport, which reflects Razvi’s name.

The mother has been extending the long-term visa from time to time and again applied for it in July 2025.

Razvi initially approached the Telangana High Court with a writ petition seeking action against the Special Branch for repeatedly visiting him, and compelling him to apply for a long-term visa. He urged the court to protect him from the initiation of prosecution against him.

During the hearing, the government pleader submitted that Razvi’s name was recorded in his mother’s Pakistani passport as Imran Abid alias Imran Hussain, and that they arrived in India in February 1994, three years after his birth in Karachi. The writ court declined to interfere in the writ petition.

The court, after hearing the counsels on both sides, directed that the passport authorities be impleaded as a respondent in the appeal. The court then directed Government Pleader Raje and Deputy Solicitor General of India N Bhujanga Rao to respond on the next date of hearing, scheduled for February 24.