Citizenship Act 1951: SC accepts plea against Shariat Court’s ruling

Govt contends that the provision can be used by foreign powers to plant its spies in the country

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday accepted federal government’s petition, challenging the Shariat Court’s ruling, wherein section 10 of the Citizenship Act 1951 was declared un-Islamic and discriminatory.

According to Section 10 Citizenship Act 1951, a Pakistani man can sponsor citizenship for his wife of non-Pakistani origin. However, a Pakistani woman cannot do the same for her husband of non-Pakistani origin. The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) declared it discriminatory in 2007.

While hearing the case, which has been pending for over seven years, the appellate bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan on Wednesday issued notices to authorities concerned, including provincial governments and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Appearing before the court, Deputy Attorney General Sohail Mahmood contended that the FSC’s judgment does not fall within the ambit of Article 203-D of the Constitution.

Mahmood stated that the Shariat Court has not cited any verse from the Holy Quran in its verdict declaring the provision of law un-Islamic. The DAG stressed that the verdict is beyond the FSC’s jurisdiction and therefore liable to be set aside.

In its appeal, the government states that, “Foreign women marrying Pakistani men cannot be equated with foreign men marrying women of Pakistani origin in our society.”



The government also contends that men of non-Pakistani origin tend to marry Pakistani women to obtain the nationality and once acquired they divorce them.

In addition to raising concerns, the government claims that a significant number of illegal immigrants, adding that the provision can be used by foreign countries to plant their agents in Pakistan.

After going through the merits of the petition, the top court accepted the federal government’s appeal for regular hearing. However, the case was adjourned for an indefinite period.

In its 2007 ruling, the FSC said that provision of law in the Citizenship Act 1951 is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam and violates principles of democracy, equality and social justice as defined in Islamic Sharia.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2014.