After she recently married a Pakistani citizen and started traveling back and forth between the two countries, her official paperwork was examined, and it was found that she had changed her name without fulfilling all the legal criteria. Her imprisonment followed this.
What role does a name play? legal issues with the “Sanam Khan” case.
When Nagma Noor Maqsoodali, then 18 years old, made a secret decision about ten years ago to obtain an Aadhaar card in the name of “Sanam Khan” with the assistance of a local shopkeeper, she did so because she “disliked” her birth name. As a result, she is currently in hot water.
After she recently married a Pakistani citizen and started traveling back and forth between the two countries, her official paperwork was examined, and it was found that she had changed her name without fulfilling all the legal criteria. This led to her imprisonment.
The 27-year-old Thane resident officially changed her name to Sanam Khan in 2015 after noticing that she “really liked” the name after hearing it in movies. She went to Abbottabad earlier this year with her two girls from her previous marriage following her online nikah (wedding) with a Pakistani guy in 2022. Nagma went back to Thane on July 17 to take care of her sick mother. “Since she traveled to Pakistan, her documents were examined, and that is how the illegality was found,” a police officer said.
After obtaining a summons on July 22, Nagma claims she spent three days visiting the Vartak Nagar police station rather than hospitals. Although her official name was still Nagma, the police questioned her for three days about how she had gotten her passport and PAN card under the name of Sanam Khan. Her situation was discovered by the local media. After that, news sources said Nagma was a “Pakistani spy,” and some even made the comparison between her and Seema Haider, a Pakistani citizen who entered India illegally with her children after falling in love with an Indian guy.
Nagma was detained on July 25 after the Vartak Nagar police station filed a complaint against her for obtaining the Aadhaar Card with “forged” documentation. The first week of August saw her freed on bond. About the same case, the storekeeper was also prosecuted and taken into custody.
In addition to altering her year of birth from 1997 to 2001, the police claimed she informed them the merchant had charged her Rs 20,000 for a birth certificate, PAN card, and Aadhaar card in her chosen name. Since we questioned the merchant how he obtained an Aadhaar Card in Nagma’s new name since she lacked any supporting documentation, such as her original birth certificate, an officer informed The Indian Express
The officer went on, “Notifying the gazette and publishing a notice in newspapers is the proper procedure for changing one’s name.” However, Nagma began utilizing her documents (produced in 2015) without taking that action, even going so far as to seek for a passport. Her paperwork was examined when she visited Pakistan, which is how the illegality was found.
When discussing her first marriage, Nagma states, “In June 2012, during my summer vacation, my mother and I traveled to our village near Moradabad (in Uttar Pradesh).” That was in Class 8. I was married during what I mistakenly believed to be a summer getaway. After my wedding, my mother moved back to Thane, and I resided in a tiny room with my in-laws. My spouse, who was primarily jobless, used to physically abuse me. Despite my desire to go back to Thane, I decided to remain after being pregnant. In December 2013, I gave birth to my first daughter at the age of sixteen.
By 2015, Nagma claims she had persuaded her mother to assist her family in relocating to Thane. “My two girls, my husband, and I traveled to Thane. Despite my husband’s refusal to work, my mother offered him some money to open a shop. We eventually parted ways, and he went back to Moradabad.
The police claim that her spouse died in 2019. While on Facebook in May 2021, Nagma got to know Pakistani resident Babar Bashir Ahmed. After they got to chatting, she informed him about her husband and two kids over the following several months.
The pair eventually decided to end their relationship. After our parents chatted with him via video conference in 2022, we decided to tie the knot. I was able to get passports for both myself and my girls in 2023. I submitted our visa applications earlier this year. At no point were there any complaints voiced.
She decided to go back to India in July because of her mother’s poor health. “A few days after my return, I received a request to visit the police station. Why there were no problems raised when I applied for the passport and visa is beyond me.
They admitted to the police that they had erred in not notifying the gazette of Nagma’s name change, her mother Sapna Khan told The Indian Express. “We showed them the notice and gave it to them right away.”
Nagma was granted bail in the first week of August and, according to the police, is unable to return to Pakistan without the local court’s permission because of this case. “We realize that Nagma did what she did out of ignorance regarding the correct procedure,” a Vartak Nagar police official continues. Her husband, a Pakistani, is her legal spouse, and he has allowed her girls to attend his school. Perhaps the court will consider her case from a more compassionate standpoint and let her return to her spouse.
