Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Thursday said that a person born in Pakistan only requires a birth certificate to be called a Pakistani and citizenship is his or her right.
Minallah gave the aforementioned remarks during the hearing of the case pertaining issue of granting citizenship to a child born to an Afghan refugee family in Pakistan.
A 24-year-old Afghan born in Pakistan had filed an application in the court seeking Pakistani citizenship. On behalf Fazal Haq, lawyer Umer Ijaz Gilani appeared in the court.
The lawyer said his client spent 24 years in Pakistan without any citizenship.
The court ordered to grant petitioner Pakistani nationality in light of the verdict in Hafiz Hamdullah’s case.
Just like laws in countries such as America and others, our law is also bound to grant citizenship to every child born here, the chief justice remarked.
He further ordered the interior ministry to complete the legal process by next Friday and submit a report on it.
The interior ministry’s counsel assured the court that they will soon verify the birth certificate of the Afghani child.
The court adjourned the hearing of the case while seeking a report till October 28.—NNI
