The Delhi High Court on Tuesday set aside the ''leave India notice'' issued to a Pakistani woman married to an Indian man and living in India since 2005, saying the Centre did not follow procedure when it ordered her deportation.
A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice AJ Bhambhani also set aside a single judge's order upholding the Centre's February 7 direction to the woman to leave the country within 15 days.
The court said it was setting aside the ''leave India notice'' "for lack of following procedure" and directed the government to consider the woman's application for citizenship.
The bench also did not agree with the government's stand that the decision was taken on the basis of adverse security reports, saying the material, including intelligence inputs, placed before it was not sufficient for taking such a step against her.
The court's verdict came on a plea filed by the woman's husband.
The 37-year-old woman had come to India in 2005 after she got married. She has been living in Delhi with her husband and two sons, aged 11 and five.
The Centre had, during the proceedings, told the court that once a ''leave India notice'' had been issued against a foreigner, the person should leave the country irrespective of having a valid visa to stay.
Central government's standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia had argued that once a ''leave India notice'' is issued, the visa is deemed to be cancelled.
The bench, however, did not agree with the government's stand and said that the woman's long-term visa was valid till 2020 and presently, it was not cancelled.
The Centre's February 7 order was first challenged by the woman's husband before a single judge who dismissed the plea and had asked her to leave the country.
Her husband then filed an appeal against the single judge''s decision before the division bench.