POC issued for Afghan female medic

The Peshawar High Court has ordered the issuance of a Pakistan Origin Card (POC) to an Afghan female doctor under Rule 4 of the POC Rules, following a petition against the denial of both the POC and citizenship.

The court also directed her to approach the relevant authorities for obtaining citizenship. These orders were issued by a bench consisting of Justice Waqar Ahmed and Justice Khurshid Iqbal in response to the petition filed by a woman named Ghatti Afzari.

During the hearing, her lawyer, Tariq Afghan, stated that the petitioner is an Afghan citizen who married a Pakistani national. However, when she contacted the NADRA authority to obtain a National Identity Card, they refused to issue an NOC, and her POC card had not been issued either.

He argued that there are numerous decisions by the Peshawar High Court in which foreign women or men married to Pakistanis are entitled to a POC or citizenship.

On the other hand, after hearing the arguments, the court noted that the Peshawar High Court had decided a similar case in December 2023, in which it was ruled that if one spouse is a Pakistani citizen, their children would be registered without any obstacles, and similarly, the foreign spouse married to a Pakistani would also be registered.