WIQAR AHMAD, J:-. Through instant petition under Article 199 of Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973, petitioners have prayed for following relief: "that on acceptance of instant writ petition, respondents especially Ministry of Safron to cancel the petitioner afghan citizen card in order to be directed to expedite the process and issuance of granting Pakistani Origin Card (POC)/ Nationality of the husband of petitioner as his legitimate right, further expedite the process of cancellation of already issued ACC Card in order to get the Pakistan nationality documents in accordance to law. Any denial from respondents' department about not facilitating Pakistani Recognition of the legally wedded husband would amount to be illegal, unlawful and will ultimately ineffective upon the right of petitioner.
Any other relief not specifically asked for may also be graciously extended in favour of the petitioner in the circumstances of the case."
2. As per contents of instant petition, petitioner No.1 (Pakistani national) has contracted marriage with petitioner No.2 (Afghan national) who has been holding Afghan Citizenship Card (ACC) as well as citizenship of United States of America. From their wedlock three children have been born.
Petitioner No.1 had applied on behalf of petitioner No.2 for cancellation of his ACC Card and also issuance of Pakistan Origin Card to petitioner No.2 being naturalized Pakistani but her application had not been decided therefore, she had filed Writ Petition No.2500-P/2024, which was disposed of by this Court vide order dated 24.07.2024 with direction to petitioners to apply afresh for said purpose before concerned quarters. Thereafter, petitioner No.1 again submitted application on behalf of petitioner No.2 for grant of Pakistan Origin Card (POC) to respondents but her request was denied by respondents, therefore, petitioners have filed instant writ petition.
3. Respondents submitted their parawise comments by stating that petitioner No.2 (Afghan national) was holder of both an ACC and US Passport. That he had applied for grant of POC on the basis of marriage with petitioner No.1 but his application was deferred as his POR/ACC required cancellation as per ACC cancellation policy of Ministry of SAFRON.
4. Arguments heard and available record perused.
5. Perusal of record reveals that while replying to claim of petitioner No.2 for his entitlement to issuance of Pakistan Origin Card (POC), NADRA (respondent No.3) had replied as follows: "ii. That the petitioner #2 is admittedly an Afghan National ACC and US Passport holder, claiming POC (Pakistan Origin Card) on the basis of marriage with petitioner # 1. Moreover, petitioner #2 applied for POC on basis of US passport, however his application was deferred as he is POR/ ACC holder and is required to cancel his POR/ ACC as per POC/ACC cancelation policy of the Ministry of SAFRON. iii. That the petitioner # 2 is required to cancel his POR/ ACC as per policy of Ministry of SAFRON and then apply for POC on the basis of marriage with petitioner # 1 in accordance with law, rules & policy subject to security clearance and approval of Ministry of Interior."
6. On the other hand comments of Ministry of POR (Proof of Registration) Card holder which meant that he had been registered in Pakistan as Afghan SAFRON was disclosing that petitioner No.2 had been Refugee and that for cancellation of POR Card, the applicant would have to make a request to the Afghan Commissionerait, who might forward their case to NADRA (Afghan Registration Cell) for cancellation of POR card and then NADRA was supposed to cancel POR Card of the Afghan national. Relevant paras of comments of Secretary, SAFRON are also reproduced hereunder: "3. After scrutiny of subject case, it is observed that the tracking ID of NADRA; 780000353932 transpires that the petitioner's husband Mr. Akbardin Ahmadzai, an Afghan national is POR card holder and he cannot obtain POC till POR cancellation. The case of POR is altogether different from that of ACC Card. POR card can be cancelled unilaterally or the petitioner's husband get it surrendered and can apply for the case of POC, thereafter.
4. The cancellation of a Proof of Registration (FOR) Card is a necessary pre-requisite for an individual seeking to obtain a Pakistan Origin Card (POC) as refugee status and eligibility for a POC under the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951, cannot coexist. Although no specific statutory provision explicitly outlines the POR cancellation progress, administrative procedures require the applicant to submit a formal request to the relevant authorities, primarily NADRA's Afghan Registration Cell (ARC). The applicant must also provide a written declaration expressing their intend to relinquish refugee status. Following this, the POR Card must be surrendered at the designated office, where a receipt or confirmation of cancellation may be issued as proof of the process. This align with the broader legal principle that Oonce an individual voluntarily renounces refugee status, they forfeit entitlement to international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
Although Pakistanis not a signatory to such provisions. Once the POR is successfully cancelled, the applicant can proceed with a POC application through NADRA, providing necessary documentation such as proof of marriage to a Pakistani citizen, valid identity credentials, and any additional affidavits or clearance certificates required by the authorities."
7. It was clear that on the request of a registered refugee, Commissioner Afghan Refugees was supposed to forward application for cancellation of POR Card and then NADRA was supposed to cancel the POR Card. Although Assistant Director, NADRA vehemently contended that ratio of the judgment of this Court in "Qasim Khan and another Vs. Federation of Pakistan and others (W.P.No.4283-P/2023) decided on 3P May, 2024, should be applied to the case in hand, particularly when this Court had held that for cancellation of POR Card or ACC Card a person should have approached Federal Government, but we would not be able to agree with contention of Assistant Director, NADRA in this respect. In case of Qasim Khan Supra this Court was seized with a situation where persons had come up before this Court with a claim that they had infact been Pakistani nationals but wrongly registered as POR Card Holders or ACC Card holders. This Court had finally resolved the matter in its judgment, concluding paras of which are also reproduced hereunder: I. A Pakistan woman married to an Afghan national is held entitled to hold dual nationalities i.e. Pakistan and Afghanistan and she would be entitled to issuance of CNIC etc. despite issuance of ACC/POR etc in her name (f no doubt is otherwise existing in respect of her citizenship of Pakistan) and the act of respondents qua blocking of their CNICs for the reason of her entry as ACC or POR Card Holder, (for such reason), is declared as illegal, ultra vires, null and void.
II. Those persons who are below the age of 21 years and born out of a wedlock, one part of which i.e. husband or wife is a Pakistani national, are also held entitled to retain dual nationality till attaining the age of 21 years, without renunciation of nationality of either of the two countries i.e. Pakistan and Afghanistan in the cases in hand. The act of respondents where they have been refusing entry of the minor and issuing them Form-Bai as well as refusal of CNIC for the reason that persons of the above mentioned age group have been found in the DATA of ACC or POR card holders, are also declared to be illegal, ultra vires and resultantly null and void. Such persons are held entitled to registrations by the NADRA.
III. Those petitioners who themselves or their spouses are Afghan nationals but having married to Pakistani citizen are held entitled to issuance of POC. They are also held entitled to apply for grant of citizenship by way of naturalization to the Federal Government in the prescribed manner.
IV. Those Pakistani citizens in whose names ACC or POR cards had been issued and who are not falling in the categories No.1, 2 & 3, they shall apply to the Federal Government under section 19 of the Citizenship Act for issuance of a clearance certificate in the prescribed manner (explained above). A female Pakistan citizen married to an Afghan national and the children born out of the wedlock who are below the age of 21 years, shall, however, be treated as exceptions to this principle and they need not apply to the Federal Government under section 19 of the Citizenship Act."
8. It was a situation where doubt had been existing regarding nationality status of those petitioners and it had been held that for clearing said doubts, those persons who claimed to have been Pakistani nationals and entered as ACC or POR card holders, should approach the Federal Government under Section 19 of the Citizenship Act 1951. Case in hand is however different. Here an afghan national (petitioner No.2) is before this Court, who is also having U.S. citizenship and has married a Pakistani woman (petitioner No.1). Petitioner No.2 is desirous of getting POC card, for which he need to cancel his entry as Afghan refugee in database of NADRA. It had been clarified by Secretary, SAFRON (Para of which is also reproduced above) that for cancellation of Proof of Registration Card a request has to be initiated by applicant through application initially made before Commissioner Afghan Refugees and then the POR card should be cancelled by NADRA. This Court has also settled law regarding issuance of Pakistan Origin Card to persons of other nationalities who have married a Pakistani national, while giving its judgment in the case of "Mst.
Naureen Masood etc Versus Government of Pakistan through Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Islamabad etc" (dated 01.12.2023 in Writ Petition No.2469-P/2022). It was laid down in said judgment: "9. For the purpose of claiming POC Cards on the ground of entering into marriage of a Pakistani to a foreigner, the following essential conditions may be deducted from Rule 4 of the POC Rules; a. The applicant should be a foreigner; b. He/she should have validly married to a Pakistani citizen and the marriage should be intact at the time of applying as well as issuance of POC Card; c. He is a citizen of a country other than India, a state not recognized by Pakistan as well as not a citizen of an enemy country.
The proviso has however provided that Federal Government would have the power to relax the condition of eligibility and allow POC to such a foreigner who is not otherwise eligible under the Rules. An eligible family member of an eligible foreigner of Pakistan origin, any of the spouse, real parents or grandparents; real children or grandchildren of the eligible foreigner of Pakistan origin may also apply for grant of POC under Rule 5 of POC Rules. Rule 6 was providing that a person is only be able to hold and use POC so issued to him so long so he continues to fulfill the eligibility criteria applicable to him and the moment he looses his eligibility or same expires it would not remain valid. Rule 7 of POC Rules aims at providing a form for making application for grant of POC, which has been prescribed to be specified by the Federal Government from time to time. Same rule was also providing power of the authority Le, NADRA to issue instructions for the documents, which should accompany the application.
At conclusion of said judgment following directions were issued regarding issuance of POC:-
18. So far as prayer of petitioners regarding grant of nationality is concerned, for said purpose they would be at liberty to apply to concerned forum i.e, Government of Pakistan through Ministry of Interior, on the prescribed form and format. All these writ petitions are partially allowed to the effect that requirement of valid passport with valid visa shall not be considered mandatory in case one of the spouse is Pakistani and another claims to be a foreigner. It is however clarified that NADRA authorities would be fully competent to ask for further proofs and details and after satisfying itself regarding the fact that the person fulfills mandatory eligibility requirements of Rule 4 of POC Rules, and that he or she is actually an Afghan citizen, having security clearance, the POC shall be issued otherwise the request shall be rejected but in writing and such decision shall be conveyed to the applicant at the earliest. Cases of all the petitioners in these connected petitions shall be considered by NADRA and appropriate orders in all these cases shall be made and conveyed to the concerned applicants after affording them opportunity of hearings and making up deficiencies if any."
9. When petitioner is relinquishing his refugee status in Pakistan, NADRA should have no objection over it. The modality that emerges for such process is that a person should apply to the Commissioner Afghan Refugees, who should receive such application and forward same alongwith a covering letter to NADRA conveying their concurrence on such request and NADRA authority should cancel POR of those Afghan citizens who wants to relinquish their refugee status in Pakistan.
If a person does not want to continue his status as Afghan refugee, the Federal Government or Commissioner Afghan Refugee or NADRA should have no objection on such relinquishment. For this purpose, Afghan Commissionerait is also directed to devise a mechanism where a person can move an application at their offices at Peshawar, Islamabad as well as online and they should facilitate persons in relinquishing their status as Afghan refugees. Afghan Registration Cell of NADRA should also evolve a modality for same, preferably in collaboration with Commissioner Afghan Refugees at the earliest and they should entertain, process and decide all the requests received from Afghan nationals for relinquishing their status as refugees within a shortest possible time. With these directions, we also disposed of instant writ petition while observing that petitioners would apply to Commissioner Afghan Refugees or Chief Commissioner, Afghan Refugees, who shall receive his request and forward such request alongwith their concurrence to Afghan Registration Cell, NADRA. The latter, on receipt of such request, shall cancel POR Card of petitioner No.2 and consider his request for issuance of POC in his favour in light of ratio descended of Mst.Naureen Masood's case supra.