715/1996 Const. P. MST ANILA ABRAR (Petitioner) V/S GOVT. OF SINDH AND OTHERS (Respondent)
Sindh High Court
Bench: Hon'ble Chief Justice Mr. Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui(Author), Hon'ble Mr. Justice Jawad Akbar Sarwana
Order Date: 05-MAR-24
i-Section 10(2) of the Citizen Act gives a preferential treatment to the spouse of Pakistani man vis-??-vis a Pakistani woman and thus infringes constitutional guarantees ii-The object is foreign spouses and not just foreign wives and thus making of 10(2) and reading it now may vary with constitutional demands. The intent of the said provision is not to encourage or facilitate women to marry Pakistani men. The concept which now emerged through international jurisprudence is to enable Pakistanis married to foreigners to be able to live together and acquire nationality for their spouses and live a family life in Pakistan and the Act of 1951 should now be read and tamed accordingly. Restricting the benefit of Section 10(2) to Pakistani men only is a clear discrimination to Pakistani women. 45. The doctrine of reading in is used by Courts to extend the scope to avoid and limit the discriminatory language having head-on conflict with a constitutional provision. The doctrine of ???reading in??? involves adding words to a statutory provision to bring it in conformity with constitutional provisions. iii- The application of "reading in" is required to cater section 10(2) of the Citizenship Act to save it from offending Article 25 of the Constitution that is wherever reference is made to ???woman??? and ???she??? therein; the words "or man" and "or he" be read. This adjustment shall not have any effect on the operability of the statute.Full judgment text for this case is not yet available on Pakistan Law Reports. Check the official Sindh High Court case law portal for the complete order.
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