The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday suspended the Peshawar High Court (PHC) order in which the court had said that an Afghan man marrying a Pakistani woman should be issued Pakistani Origin Card (POC), reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Shahid Waheed, heard the case.
Speaking during the hearing, the additional attorney general (AAG) said that the government had filed an appeal against the PHC order, dated December 1, 2023. “The high court had said that an Afghan man marrying a Pakistani woman should be issued a POC,” he said, adding, “The government has no objection to the issuance of POC. It only has objection to the part of the order in which the court had said that the Afghan male should also be given Pakistani nationality.”
Justice Musarrat Hilali asked, “On what basis, citizenship could be granted. How many applicants are there?”
“There are total 117 applicants,” replied the AAG.
Justice Hilali remarked that these were the applicants who were known to the authorities.
Speaking on the occasion, counsel for NADRA said that there was also a condition that the Afghan man should also have a valid visa of Pakistan.
The AAG informed the bench that now contempt of court petitions were being filed in the aftermath of the high court’s verdict.
Issuing notices to the parties, the bench adjourned the hearing for an indefinite time period.
Reporter: Amanat Gishkori