PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has restrained the authorities from deporting the Afghan nationals married to Pakistani citizens.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad and Justice Inamullah Khan directed the relevant departments to process the pending citizenship cases within six months.The bench was hearing a set of petitions filed by Fauzia Bibi and others. The three-page judgment was authored by Justice Inamullah Khan. During the proceedings, counsel for the petitioners Asadullah Khan Yousafzai, along with Assistant Attorney General Barrister Rahat Ali Naqi and others appeared before the court.
The petitioners, including Pakistani women married to Afghan nationals, had applied to the authorities for granting Pakistani citizenship to their spouses under the Pakistan Citizenship Act.
They had sought issuance of Pakistan Origin Cards (POC) for their husbands and identity documents, including Form-B or Computerized National Identity Cards (CNIC), for their children. However, despite submitting applications, they received no response, prompting them to approach the court.
The court directed the Ministry of Interior and Nadra to decide all such pending applications strictly in accordance with the law within a period of six months. The court instructed Nadra to cooperate with the applicants in processing their cases.
In one of the petitions, the court noted that the applicant had failed to provide sufficient documentary evidence in support of the claim for citizenship and POC.As a result, that particular petition was disposed of with directions to reapply, this time fulfilling all legal and documentary requirements.
The court further advised the petitioner to seek citizenship under the naturalization policy.The court ordered that the petitioner should not be deported for the next six months or until a final decision was made by the federal government on the application.
