Kolkata: Every person — Pakistani or of any nationality — should be given all opportunities to prove his/her case, Calcutta High Court said on Saturday, criticising the Centre and state for taking 24 years to decide on the citizenship application of a 60-year-old Pakistani woman, married to a Howrah man, and directed them to submit a report within 15 days.When Justice Krishna Rao queried why it was taking the administration 24 years to determine whether Bibi Fatema (Mallick) is a citizen or not, he was informed that authorities are unable to find the “files” where Fatema had applied for citizenship in 1982 and 2002. They asked Fatema to produce it, but with time, she also lost those documents but her counsel pointed out that authority in their letters to Fatema have repeatedly cited a file number, so they surely can place it.The state’s counsel sought for some time to get those “files” and were directed to submit a report by Aug 17. The judge, however, refused to stay the trial against Fatema for overstaying her visa.“A report needs to be made based on the statements by the arrestee or detainee to the joint committee (which includes Intelligence Bureau, local police station, among others), the investigation has to be carried out. When the petitioner told about this communications, did the investigating officer search these files from the ministry before filing the chargesheet? Otherwise it’s suppression of fact in the chargesheet. This is not an easy case. Citizenship of the person, arresting the person, sending her to jail, one year in custody… Either Pakistani national or any national, every person needs to be given all opportunities. If suppose tomorrow she proves, who will pay the compensation?” Justice Rao told the counsel representing Union of India and State.Fatema was born in a village in Hooghly in 1965. At the age of 3, her parents took her to Pakistan’s Rawalpindi in 1968 for some business purposes. They had given up their Indian passports. Fifteen years later, they returned to India under visa in 1981. She was married off to a man in Howrah and her parents applied for citizenship for Fatema in 1982.Meanwhile, the Indian authorities kept extending Fatema’s visa. In 2002, she applied for citizenship again. There were repeated to-and-from between the state and central authorities till 2008 on her case but the answer to her citizenship kept pending. Amid the citizenship discussion, Fatema’s visa expired in 2005. But since she was getting regular communication from authorities on her citizenship, Fatema didn’t pay any further heed to the visa.The couple had two daughters, settled in their home in Howrah. Life for Fatema and her family overturned post Pahalgam attack in April 2025. Her counsel submitted before Justice Krishna Rao that the local cops “somehow” got to know that Fatema’s visa had expired and at that point “the Centre issued a notification that there will be no further extension of visa for Pakistani nationals”.Fatema was arrested under section 14 of the Foreigners Act and put in custody where she languished for one year and three months. She was granted bail by Justice Tirthankar Ghosh on July 17 and is now living with her family.If convicted, as she has admitted to be a Pakistani citizen, she will be sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. “You (the authorities) trace out the file. It’s not like she was remaining silent. There was correspondence made between woman and the govt till 2008. There are so many file numbers,” Justice Rao said.
