High court stays PHC ruling that allowed Afghan to have both Pakistani citizenship and Pakistani origin card
The Supreme Court on Saturday stayed a judgment of the Peshawar High Court that had declared 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 accepted the federal government’s appeal against the PHC ruling of December 1, 2023, which had ordered that the Afghan be issued a Pakistan Origin Card (POC) in addition to citizenship.
Additional Solicitor General Rana Asadullah informed the court that the government had not objected to the issuance of POC to such persons. However, he maintained that the granting of citizenship in such cases was not permitted under current legislation. He added that the PHC ruling had led to an increase in similar requests. “So far 117 candidates have filed,” he told the court.
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Judge Musarrat Hilali noted that the real figure could be much higher. “These are just the ones who have come forward,” the judge observed. A lawyer representing the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) stated that Afghan nationals married to Pakistani women must also possess a valid visa to qualify for documentation.
Judge Hilali noted that the court would have to determine whether an individual had “entered through the door or by scaling the wall.” Asadullah also claimed that contempt petitions were being filed in light of the PHC ruling, adding urgency to the government’s appeal.
After hearing opening arguments, the Supreme Court stayed PHC’s 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, challenged Article 10(2) of the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 before the PHC, arguing that the law discriminated against Pakistani women. Under the law, a foreign woman married to a Pakistani man can acquire citizenship, while the same right 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 Pakistani origin card in light of a 2008 Federal Shariat Court judgment declaring Article 10 of the Citizenship Act “unconstitutional and un-Islamic”. The top court also directed the Home Ministry to decide the citizenship issue in accordance with the law.
In December 2023, the court ordered that the Afghan be issued both a Pakistani origin card and citizenship.
