PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has restrained the authorities from deporting an Afghan national married to a Pakistani woman and directed the relevant departments to decide the family’s applications for citizenship-related documents within six months.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad and Justice Babar Sattar heard a writ petition filed by Zainab Bibi and others.
During the hearing, Additional Attorney General Sanaullah, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Law Officer Muhammad Mubarak and Shahid Imran Gigyani appeared before the court.
Counsel for the petitioners, Advocate Asadullah Khan Yousafzai, informed the court that the petitioner had married an Afghan national and that the couple had children.
He requested the court to direct the authorities to issue a Pakistan Origin Card (POC) to the Afghan husband and Form-B or Smart National Identity Cards to their children.
The lawyer submitted that the family had not received any relief despite approaching NADRA, compelling them to move the PHC. The bench directed the petitioners to approach NADRA for obtaining a Pakistan Origin Card and ordered the authority to decide their application under Section 11 of the NADRA Ordinance, 2002.
The court observed that the petitioner could apply for Pakistani nationality under Section 5 of the Naturalization Act, 1926, and directed the Director General Immigration and Passports to decide the naturalization application within six months.
Regarding the issuance of a Marriage Registration Certificate (MRC), the court noted in its written order that similar cases had previously been decided by the high court and directed the petitioners to approach NADRA and the relevant village council for resolution of the matter.
The PHC restrained the authorities from deporting the Afghan petitioner for six months.. It directed the departments concerned to resolve the family’s legal and citizenship issues within the stipulated period.
