SRINAGAR: In a significant judgement, a court in Jammu and Kashmir has ruled that PoK is not part of Pakistan but an integral part of India that has been illegally occupied by another country and the provisions of the Foreigners Act cannot be attracted to persons allegedly coming from that region.
The ruling was delivered by Syed Tayoub Bukhari, Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC), Chadoora in central Kashmir’s Budgam district while acquitting a man and his wife in a decade-old case registered by the Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK), Srinagar.
The case pertained to Mohammad Maqbool Rather alias Ajmal Shahzad of Kralpora, Chadoora, and his wife Parveena Akhtar, a resident of Bora Colony, Mirpur, PoK. They were charged under Sections 2/3 of the Enemy Agents Ordinance / E&IMCO and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act on allegations that Rather had crossed over to PoK around 21 years earlier, received arms training, married there, and later returned to India with his wife and children without valid documents.
According to the prosecution, the matter came to light on August 8, 2012, following an intelligence input about a suspicious individual. After investigation, a charge sheet was filed in May 2018, and charges were framed the following month.
During the trial, the prosecution cited eight witnesses but only two were examined while the remaining witnesses including the Investigating Officer were never produced.
In the ruling, the court observed that both examined witnesses failed to establish the prosecution case. “One witness admitted having no personal knowledge of the alleged border crossing, while the other resiled from his earlier statement and termed the allegations false and baseless”.
The court held that the testimonies were either hearsay or unreliable and could not sustain a conviction.
The court observed that the prosecution has failed to produce any documentary evidence like travel records, border crossing details, recovery memos, intelligence inputs, or any material to establish illegal entry, arms training, or violation of the Foreigners Act.
While dealing with the applicability of the Foreigners Act, the court ruled that PoK is not a part of Pakistan, it is an integral part of India, and has been illegally occupied by the other country. Therefore the Foreigners Act has not been attracted to the accused persons.
Holding that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt and evidence on record is insufficient, unreliable, and incapable of sustaining a conviction, the court acquitted both accused persons, granting them the benefit of doubt.
The bail bonds were discharged, and the court directed that any seized property, if lying on record, shall be released after the period of appeal is over.