Pakistan to eliminate gender-based discrimination in all spheres of life, including nationality rights. Some earlier cases in Pakistani courts have upheld the discriminatory application of the law, such as in the case of Sharifan v. Federation of Pakistan, where the issue of citizenship denial to the foreign husband of a Pakistani woman was brought before the court and it ruled that Section 10(2) of the Pakistan Citizenship Act does not infringe upon Article 25 of the Constitution. The Court justified its decision by explaining that Section 10 was enacted with consideration to the status of women under private international law and emphasized the practical challenges associated with granting citizenship to every foreigner solely through marriage to a Pakistani woman. It argued that such a broad interpretation could potentially lead to unregulated immigration, posing difficulties in managing the influx of foreigners acquiring Pakistani citizenship in a nondiscriminatory manner.16 However, since then numerous cases in Pakistani courts, where married Pakistani women have sought and are continuing to seek citizenship for their foreign husbands, have led to the higher courts of Pakistan, including the Federal Shariat Court, to reject earlier arguments of the Government of Pakistan in Sharifan v. Federation and hold Section 10(2) of the Pakistan Citizenship Act in direct violation of Article 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan. The Courts have reaffirmed the constitutional right to equality between citizens of Pakistan, and have directed for grant of citizenship to foreign spouses of Pakistani women in these cases.17 In 2006, the Federal Shariat Court, exercising suo moto jurisdiction, addressed the discrimination in Section 10(2) of the Pakistan Citizenship Act and determined that this contravened several constitutional and international legal principles, including Article 2A and Article 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan, as well as Pakistan's 16 Sharifan v. Federation of Pakistan [1998] PLD 59 (Lahore). Mrs Rukhsana Bibi v. Government of Pakistan (PLD 2016 Lahore 857); WP 1536P/2023 (Peshawar High Court); Suo Moto Case No. 1/K of 2006 (Gender Equality) (PLD 2008 FSC 1). 17 10