FIROZ MEHARUDDIN Vs. SUB-DIVISIONAL OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution by which the petitioner challenges the order passed by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Mahasamund, on 11-4-1958 ordering the petitioner to leave India on the ground that he is a Pakistan citizen and has overstayed the period of his visa. Ten other similar petitions involving common questions of law were heard along with this petition. They are:<FRM>JUDGEMENT_128_TLMPH0_1960Html1.htm</FRM> All these petitions, except S. No. 3, are directed against the orders of the District Superintendent of Police or the Collector under Section 3 (2) (c) of the Foreigners Act, 1946, directing the petitioners to leave India. In S. No. 3 the impugned order was passed by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Jhabua, under S. 3 (2) (e) of that Act imposing restrictions on the petitioner's movements,

(2.) IN S. Nos. 4, 6 and 7 the petitioners state that they had gone to Pakistan before the Constitution, i. e. , sometime in 1948 or 1949. In S. No. 1 the petitioner states that he went to Pakistan in the middle of 1950, whereas in the return it is stated that he went over in 1948. In the remaining cases the petitioners went to Pakistan between 1952 and 1954. The reasons for the departure to Pakistan are given differently in each case; but it is not necessary to refer to them here for the appreciation of the common law points involved in these cases.

(3.) THE petitioners obtained passports in 1955 or 1956 and the necessary visas for visiting and staying in India. In some cases they made more than one visit to Pakistan. The period of stay was extended from time to time but in all cases the petitioners stayed beyond the date after the expiry of the final period of extension. The impugned orders were thereupon passed in the latter half of 1957 or in 1958. All these orders were passed after the definition of 'foreigner' was amended by the Foreigners Law (Amendment) Act, which came into force on 19-1-1957.