PHC Blocks Deportation Of 51 Afghan Refugees, Orders New Process For Citizenship Cases

In a significant judgment announced on September 2, 2025, the Peshawar High Court temporarily stopped the deportation of certain Afghan refugees, directing government authorities to establish a new, streamlined process for resolving their citizenship status. The ruling, delivered by Justices Wiqar Ahmad and Muhammad Ijaz Khan, disposed of dozens of writ petitions, with the lead case being Mst. Lal Pari vs. Federation of Pakistan.

Advocate Saifullah Muhib Kakakhel and Advocate Nouman Muhib Kakakhel represented 51 different petitioning families. Additional Attorney General Sanaullah Khan represented the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of SAFRON, and NADRA.

The decision comes just one day after a government deadline, set for September 1, for the repatriation of over 1.3 million Afghan refugees holding expired Proof of Registration (PoR) cards.

The court's judgment was in response to the“confusion” created by government officials who had previously stated that cases of“doubtful citizenship” should be handled by the Ministry of Interior, only to later delegate those powers to NADRA.

The court ordered that all petitioners must submit their cases to the NADRA Service Delivery Center on Ring Road, Peshawar, or any other designated center. NADRA will then process these applications for a“clearance certificate” under Section 19 of the Pakistan Citizenship Act of 1951.

The judgment specifies that once NADRA issues this certificate, it must be transmitted electronically to the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON). The Ministry of SAFRON will then have a strict 15-day deadline to electronically communicate any objections back to NADRA.

It ordered that if no objection is raised, NADRA will proceed with the cancellation of the Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) or PoR card and issue a Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) to the applicant.

The court noted that this electronic process is intended to prevent hardship for applicants who would otherwise have to travel to Islamabad. The court also directed the Ministry of Interior, in collaboration with NADRA, to identify cases where ACC cards were wrongly issued to Pakistani nationals and to share this data with district and police administrations to prevent the harassment or deportation of these individuals while their applications are pending.

This ruling builds on a previous Peshawar High Court judgment from May 2024, which declared that a Pakistani woman married to an Afghan national is entitled to hold dual nationality and receive a CNIC, and that the children born of such a union are entitled to dual nationality until the age of 21.

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