The Supreme Court, on Friday, dismissed a plea requesting the transportation of the mortal remains of Pakistani Sufi saint Hazrat Shah Muhammad Abdul Muqtadir Shah Masood Ahmad, who passed away in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2022.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra constituted the bench that ruled against the petition, stating that there is no entitlement to repatriate the mortal remains of a foreign national to India.
Addressing the petitioner, Dargah Hazrat Mulla Syed, the bench questioned the rationale behind expecting the Indian government to facilitate the return of the saint’s remains, given his Pakistani citizenship. The counsel representing the dargah explained that the saint had no family in Pakistan and served as the spiritual head at the dargah in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
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The petitioner sought directives from the Union of India to bring the saint’s remains to India, emphasizing his birth in Prayagraj, migration to Pakistan, and subsequent acquisition of Pakistani citizenship in 1992.
However, the bench reiterated that it could only consider such a request if the individual in question held Indian citizenship. It stressed that for a foreign national, no legal provision exists to demand the exhumation of remains from another country for transportation to India.
The bench pointed out the complexities involved, citing the saint’s election as Sajjada Nasheen of the shrine in Prayagraj in 2008 and his expressed wish, through a will made in 2021, to be buried at the same shrine. It noted the challenges inherent in entertaining such a petition.
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In its ruling, the Supreme Court emphasized that Hazrat Shah was a Pakistani citizen, underscoring the absence of constitutional rights for foreign nationals in such matters. It highlighted practical obstacles related to exhumation and transportation, asserting the court’s reluctance to intervene in the transportation of remains of a foreign national to India as a matter of principle.
Consequently, the plea was dismissed, affirming the court’s stance on the transportation of a foreign citizen’s mortal remains to India.
