PESHAWAR: A single-member Peshawar High Court bench has granted bail to an Afghan juvenile arrested by police for illegal stay in the country.
Chief Justice S M Attique Shah accepted the bail plea of the Afghan national on condition of furnishing two surety bonds of Rs100,000 each.
The petitioner was arrested by officials of the Saddar police station in Hangu district, on March 2, 2026, and charged under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act for illegal stay.
Advocate Danyal Khan Chamkani appeared for him and said that his client was 17-year-old, so he was a juvenile person as per the definition mentioned in the Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018.
Court asks him to furnish two surety bonds of Rs100,000 each
He added that notwithstanding the merit of the case, the petitioner was entitled to be extended the concession of bail under Section 6(3) of the Act.
“Even assuming that the accused-petitioner was allegedly found residing within the territorial jurisdiction of Pakistan without possessing any valid visa, permit or other lawful travel or residency documentation, the available records indicate that he is a juvenile, approximately 17 years of age,” the bench observed.
It added that under Section 6(3) of the JJSA, the grant of bail to a juvenile person might be refused only in exceptional circumstances where the court believed that the release of the accused-petitioner was likely to bring him into association with criminals, expose him to moral, physical or psychological danger and thus, defeating the ends of justice.
“In the present case, there appears to be no reasonable apprehension that the release of the accused-petitioner would associate him with criminals or expose him to any such dangers. Therefore, in light of Section 6(3) of the aforementioned Act, and keeping in view the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, this Court is not inclined to withhold the concession of bail from the accused-petitioner, particularly when he has been in custody since 02-03-2026 and is no longer required for the purposes of investigation or interrogation,” it observed.
The bench also noted that in the event of deportation of Afghan nationals pursuant to the prevailing government policy, law-enforcement agencies should take necessary measures to ensure the immediate, expeditious and smooth departure of the accused-petitioner along with family members from Pakistan, and to facilitate their repatriation to their country of origin strictly in accordance with the law in the larger interest of justice and in order to minimise their agony.
Meanwhile, the high court directed a Pakistani woman with an Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) ‘and her children to apply to the Nadra service delivery centre for the cancellation of their Afghan cards and issuance of clearance certificates to them under Section 19 of the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951.
Mushafiq Bibi and her eight children had filed a joint petition for the cancellation of their ACCs and issuance of CNICs to them.
A bench consisting of Justice Wiqar Ahmad and Justice Farah Jamshed pronounced to dispose of the petition in light of its earlier detailed judgement delivered on Sept 2, 2025, wherein several directives were issued to petitioners therein and authorities, including the interior and Safron ministries and Nadra.
It declared that the petitioner could apply to the service delivery centre, which was authorised to cancel ACC.
Advocate Fawad Rasheed Wazir appeared for the petitioners and said that the woman was born in Peshawar and her both parents had Pakistani CNICs. He added that all her siblings, too, possessed CNICs.
The lawyer said that the petitioner was married to an Afghan national, Momin Khan, and they had eight children out of the wedlock.
He added that the petitioners, instead of getting CNICs, had acquired ACCs.
The counsel said that his clients had acquired ACCs under compulsion due to poverty and to avail basic humanitarian assistance.
He added that the petitioners later applied for CNICs but the process couldn’t proceed as they already had got ACCs.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2026.
