Hyderabad: In a case that underscores the sharp legal line between long residence and citizenship, Telangana high court refused to grant relief to an apparently Pakistan-born man who has lived in Hyderabad since infancy, holding that compliance with visa regulations cannot be construed as police harassment.The court dismissed the plea of the 33-year-old resident of Yakutpura, who alleged that Hyderabad police Special Branch officials had been repeatedly visiting his home and pressuring him to obtain a long-term visa (LTV), failing which he would be prosecuted.The man insisted that he was being visited by police officials despite him applying for and LTV in July last year. The requirement flows from Union home ministry directions issued in April 2025 following the Pahalgam terror attack.Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka said the petitioner’s initial assertion of Indian citizenship by birth stood contradicted by official records, which described him as a Pakistani national born in Karachi, whose name appeared in a Pakistani passport and who had never been granted either an LTV or Indian citizenship.“He has not produced any conclusive statutory proof of citizenship under the Citizenship Act, and his reliance on an Aadhaar card, voter ID card, PAN card, driving licence, and educational certificates cannot, by themselves, confer or establish citizenship, particularly when the statutory framework governing foreigners mandates determination of nationality based on passport, visa status, and orders passed by competent authorities under the Foreigners Act,” the judge observed.The court held that the police action formed part of statutory verification and enforcement of visa regulations, and could not be termed harassment or coercion.The petitioner, who has a clerical job with a private firm claimed that he was born and brought up in Hyderabad, has lived in the city for the past 31 years, married an Indian citizen, and led a peaceful family life. A father of two, he told the court that he holds an Aadhaar card, voter ID, PAN card, and driving licence, and argued that the police action was illegal, arbitrary, and violative of his constitutional rights.Petitioner’s claimHe sought directions restraining the police from harassing him or forcing him to apply for an LTV, contending that he had never been asked to obtain one earlier and that the sudden action, without notice, disrupted his family life.The authorities, however, contested these claims, stating that the petitioner was born in Karachi in 1991 to an Indian-origin mother who was married to a Pakistani national. Following marital issues, his mother returned to Hyderabad in 1994 with the petitioner, who was then only a few months old.Never obtained LTVOfficials said the mother had applied for and periodically renewed her LTV, but the petitioner—who entered India on his mother’s Pakistani passport and a visiting visa—never obtained an LTV. They further pointed out that the home ministry’s April 2025 directive required all Pakistani nationals holding long-term visas, but not Indian citizenship, to apply afresh, pursuant to which the petitioner and his mother submitted LTV applications in July 2025.Finding no merit in the plea, the high court disposed of the petition, while directing the police to process the LTV applications of the petitioner and his mother and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the home ministry’s prevailing guidelines at the earliest.
