Apex court suspends PHC ruling that allowed an Afghan man both Pakistani citizenship and a Pakistan Origin Card
The Supreme Court on Saturday suspended a Peshawar High Court judgment that had held an Afghan national, married to a Pakistani woman, entitled to Pakistani citizenship, pending a final decision on the matter.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed took up the federal government’s appeal against the PHC’s December 1, 2023 ruling, which had directed that the Afghan man be issued a Pakistan Origin Card (POC) as well as the citizenship.
Additional Attorney General Rana Asadullah informed the court that the government had not opposed issuance of POCs to such individuals. However, he maintained that granting citizenship in such cases was not permissible under existing law. He added that the PHC ruling had triggered a surge in similar applications. “So far, 117 applicants have come forward,” he told the bench.
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Justice Musarrat Hilali remarked that the actual number could be far higher. “These are only those who have come forward,” the justice observed. A counsel representing the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) submitted that Afghan nationals married to Pakistani women must also possess a valid visa to qualify for documentation.
Justice Hilali noted that the court would need to determine whether an individual had ‘entered through the door or by scaling the wall’. Asadullah also stated that contempt petitions were being filed in light of the PHC ruling, adding urgency to the government’s appeal.
After hearing initial arguments, the Supreme Court suspended the PHC judgment and issued notices to the respondents. The case was adjourned to a later date.
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In 2021, a Pakistani woman, Samina Rohi, had challenged Section 10(2) of the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 before the PHC, arguing that the law discriminated against Pakistani women. Under the Act, a foreign woman married to a Pakistani man may acquire citizenship, whereas the same entitlement is not extended to foreign husbands of Pakistani women.
She argued that her Afghan husband, who worked in Kuwait, should be granted citizenship on constitutional grounds.
In 2022, the PHC ruled that the Afghan spouse was entitled to a Pakistan Origin Card in light of a 2008 Federal Shariat Court judgment declaring Section 10 of the Citizenship Act ‘unconstitutional and un-Islamic’. The high court also directed the Ministry of Interior to decide the question of citizenship in accordance with the law.
In December 2023, court directed that the Afghan man be issued both a Pakistan Origin Card and citizenship
