September 30, 2026
By Hashir Ahsan
ISLAMABAD
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a written order on a constitutional petition filed by 87 Afghan students against the non-extension of their visas, disposing of the case by converting the petition into a representation, sending it to the Ministry of Interior, and directing that a decision be made within 30 days.
The petition was filed by Atta Raza on behalf of himself and as the official representative of 86 other male and female Afghan students, who are studying at various recognized educational institutions in Pakistan, including the International Islamic University Islamabad.
In this petition, the Federation of Pakistan through the Secretary Ministry of Interior Islamabad, Director General Directorate General of Immigration and Passports, Chairman NADRA Islamabad, Director General FIA, and Inspector General of Police Islamabad Capital Territory were named as respondents. Filed under Article 199 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the petition submitted that all 87 students came to Pakistan on valid visas and are studying at various institutions. These students submitted timely visa extension applications through the Pak Visa Online System, but no decision was made on them.
Due to non-extension of visas, the students faced the threat of arrest, deportation, academic loss, and harassment. The petition further stated that in this regard, the Afghan Embassy had also contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan on September 16, 2025, via letter number CUL-2740, requesting a resolution to these problems. Advocates Aimal Khan Mandokhail and Muhammad Azeem Khan Niazi appeared on behalf of the petitioners.
During the hearing of the case, the court asked the students’ counsel how the petitioners, being Afghan citizens, could invoke the constitutional writ jurisdiction of the High Court. Upon this, the lawyers for the students requested that if the case were converted into a representation and sent to the Ministry of Interior, the students would be satisfied.
Assistant Advocate General Sarfraz Rauf adopted the stance that Pakistan is in a state of war with Afghanistan and this is purely a policy matter of the Government of Pakistan, which cannot be decided under writ jurisdiction.
Judge Khadim Hussain Soomro stated in his written order that the court refrains from exercising its constitutional jurisdiction and converts this case into a representation. The office of the court was directed to transmit all attached documents and the cabinet/case file to the Ministry of Interior. The court bound the Ministry of Interior to decide the matter within 30 days. With this order, the court officially disposed of Objection Case No. 35-2026.
In a conversation with Voicepk, Sediq Sherati, President of the Afghan Students Union, expressed his reaction to the court’s decision, stating that they had expected the court to grant a stay order and resolve their issue. However, the court instead issued directions to the Ministry of Interior regarding this matter. He mentioned that they provided all evidence in court and noted that the Advocate General’s statement was also referenced in the judgment. He called it regrettable that a government representative would make a statement claiming that they are in a state of war with Afghanistan.
He added that such statements will deter anyone from coming to Pakistan for education in the future. He stressed that no student entered Pakistan illegally; all of them arrived through legal channels after securing admission to universities. Sediq Sherati emphasized that students should be kept away from politics and that there should be no obstacles in their education. He concluded that the court based its decision on policy rather than law, and that such decisions should not be made.
The applicant’s lawyer, Aimal Khan Mandokhail, while speaking to Voicepk, stated that all students had applied for a visa extension, none of the students have any criminal record, and all students had applied for the visa extension within the designated timeframe. However, the Ministry of Interior is neither approving nor rejecting the extension applications; instead, the status of the applications on the online portal remains pending to date.
In July, there was a notification from the Ministry of Interior stating that individuals without a visa would be deported, and it was in this context that they approached the court.
Disagreeing with the arguments of the Advocate General, Aimal Khan Mandokhail said that the statement from the government representative claiming we are in a state of war with Afghanistan is extremely unfortunate and contrary to the facts, because on September 10, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took the stance in its statement that Pakistan shares long-standing relations with Afghanistan as a neighboring and fellow Muslim country. Aimal Mandokhail demanded that the Advocate General withdraw his statement, failing which they would approach the court against it.