CNIC case: IHC sets asides lower court order

Islamanad High Court gives 20 days to the petitioner to prove his identity

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court set aside on Monday an order of a lower court directing the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to unblock Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) of a man who was declared an Afghan national in an intelligence agency report.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui set aside the order of a consumer court with the directions to the petitioner, Jan Muhammad, to prove his identity before NADRA within 20 days.



“CNIC is a proof of identity. It’s not a cold drink that the petitioner (Jan Muhammad) approached the consumer court,” Justice Siddiqui remarked.

The Additional District and Sessions Judge (East), Raja Khurram Ali Khan, who also holds an additional charge of a consumer court, had ordered NADRA officials to unblock Jan’s CNIC.

The registration authority had blocked CNIC of Jan and his family members in light of a report prepared by Intelligence Bureau in 2014, the counsel for NADRA, Syed Junaid Jaffer argued.

The registration officials had challenged the consumer court’s order in January 2015 but the case was adjourned several times.



The counsel maintained that the consumer court had no jurisdiction to decide the matter. He added that the card was blocked after intelligence report declaring Jan and his family Afghan nationals.

The court also noted that issuance of CNIC doesn’t fall within the ambit of consumer protection act and the court had no jurisdiction to hear the case.

In the last five year, 136,981 CNICs have been blocked on the directives of the interior ministry.

The ministry has blocked over 1,36,981 cards during the last five years.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2015.