KARACHI: Pakistani Internet sensation Arshad Khan, better known as “Chaiwala,” has regained his national identity card after authorities verified his citizenship and informed a court that the document had been restored, his counsel said on Monday.

Khan, who became a global celebrity in 2016 after a photograph of him pouring tea at a street stall went viral, had petitioned the Lahore High Court earlier this year to unblock his passport and national ID over fears of deportation amid Pakistan’s ongoing drive to repatriate undocumented Afghans. The court took notice of the case in April, prompting a formal review of his records.

Pakistan’s deportation campaign has intensified over the past year, with authorities repatriating more than 800,000 Afghans since 2023 as part of a nationwide drive against undocumented foreigners. The crackdown has heightened fears among ethnic minorities and cross-border families accused of holding invalid documents, including Khan, whose national ID and passport were blocked in 2017 following a media rumor that he was an Afghan national.

“Today, we informed the court that the computerized national identity card of Arshad Khan, commonly known as Chaiwala, has been unblocked,” Umer Ijaz Gilani, Khan’s counsel, told Arab News.

He said the issue was taken up at the highest government level after the court’s notice in April, and a NADRA verification board reviewed Khan’s family records, including decades-old identification documents, before confirming his Pakistani citizenship.

Gilani said the board concluded that Khan was a Pakistani citizen and restored his CNIC, noting that the court had “disposed of our constitutional petition” after NADRA confirmed the decision.

The lawyer added that his client’s documents were “mistakenly blocked” in 2017 following a rumor aired by a television channel claiming Khan was an Afghan national.

A High Court order earlier this year described Khan as “globally known as Arshad Khan Chaiwala” and said that “based on a fake rumor telecasted by a news channel, his entire future career and business was now at stake.”

Khan now plans to renew his passport and resume international travel for his “Café Chai Wala” brand, which has branches in Pakistan and the United Kingdom, according to his lawyer.