Kerala High Court rejects Pakistani woman’s plea to have Indian visa request considered
The Kerala High Court has ruled that a Pakistani national married to an Indian citizen could not require the government to process her visa application. The court cited an order suspending visa services for Pakistani nationals after the Pahalgam terror attack and said entry into India is governed by sovereign policy.
The Kerala High Court has rejected a plea by a Pakistani national married to an Indian citizen who sought to have her application for an Indian visa considered. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas ruled that the petitioner could not demand processing of the application while a government order suspending visa services for Pakistani nationals remained in force. The woman had sought to travel to India to attend her brother-in-law’s wedding.
The court said no foreign national, including one married to an Indian citizen, had a vested right to require permission to enter India. It held that the regulation of the entry, stay, movement and departure of foreigners was an exclusive sovereign function of the Union government. The petitioner’s lawyers argued that she had not harmed India and that denying her an opportunity to apply for and have a visa processed violated constitutional guarantees of equality and life.
They said those protections applied to all persons, not only Indian citizens. The Centre opposed the plea, maintaining that foreign nationals could not claim permission to enter or remain in India as a matter of right except under applicable law or government policy. It said immigration could be regulated at the government’s discretion in the national interest.
The Centre also submitted that fresh long-term visas were not open for consideration and that previously issued visas had been valid only until April 29, 2025. It argued that, unless the petitioner obtained Indian citizenship, she could not have a visa application processed while she remained a Pakistani national. The court referred to a government order issued in April 2025 after the Pahalgam attacks.
The order revoked existing visas for Pakistani nationals and stated that new visas would not be permitted. The court further held that constitutional rights to life and equality could be restricted according to a procedure established by law. It said those rights could be invoked in this context only when the person was within Indian territory.
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