BENGALURU: A sessions court here has declined to grant anticipatory bail to a Pakistani woman who was found having an Indian voter ID card obtained on forged documents and misrepresentation.
Naureen Naz, 43, the accused, resides at Mico Layout in the city. She had submitted an application under the Indian Citizenship Act,1955, to the deputy commissioner, who had written to the police commissioner’s office to give a report. In December 2024, the commissioner directed Mico Layout police to submit a detailed report on the matter. While reviewing the application, it was found that she obtained the voter ID card from Ward 172 of BTM constituency five years ago.
When the police sought details of the voter’s identity, the revenue officer of BTM Layout stated that those details were in old software and now new software is being used. So old data is currently unavailable. Therefore, the police registered a case under various provisions of BNS. Meanwhile, Naz moved the sessions court for anticipatory bail fearing arrest.
While dismissing the bail petition, Judge Rashmi M, 67th Additional City Civil and Sessions Court, noted that when a voter ID card has been obtained by a foreigner irrespective of his or her residential status in India, then it should be presumed that facts have been misrepresented before the authorities.
The court stated that the copy of the voters’ list and the voter’s ID card had the petitioner’s husband’s name as Asif Soud and the petitioner’s name as Naureen Naz in Kannada. This court cannot ignore the voter ID card merely because of an alphabet “a” after Naureen Naz, making it Naureena Naz. The investigating officer should investigate how the voter ID card was issued to a Pakistani national, the court said.
The court also noted that the petitioner furnished a copy of the application for citizenship dated January 12, 2015, which did not have any signature. In the application, the date of entry in India has been mentioned as August 19, 2006, and the address mentioned in the application is the same as that of her husband’s in the Aadhar card.
On the contrary, the public prosecutor furnished along with the voters’ list, a copy of the voter ID card and a citizenship application dated September 2, 2024, wherein the date of entry of the petitioner to India is April 24, 2017. The address in the application is different from that mentioned in the citizenship application. Even otherwise from the citizenship application furnished by the petitioner, it is evident that she entered India on August 19, 2006, but there is no supporting document, the court said.
The court observed that in a column of the application, it is stated that she married Asif Saud on August 6, 2006, in Karachi, Pakistan. As per the petitioner’s averments, she has been residing in India for the past 12 years and she applied for citizenship in 2024. The true copy of the application under the Citizenship Act has been furnished by the petitioner, which is of 2015, but she has not furnished the citizenship application of 2015, the court added.