PESHAWAR: A special anti-corruption and immigration court on Friday issued arrest warrants for two co-suspects, who were involved in issuing a computerised national identity card to Afghan refugee Sharbat Gula.
Their bail before arrest pleas were dismissed after the suspects presented their medical certificates in court and claimed that they were receiving treatment.
On October 20, the Federal Investigation Agency registered an FIR against three ex-NADRA employees.
Upon completion of the inquiry and checking of NADRA records, it had been established that three employees of NADRA Peshawar offices -- including Palwasha Afridi, Mohsin Ehsan and Emad -- fraudulently issued CNICs to Afghan nationals, including Sharbat Gula and sons Wali and Rauf Khan.
When the hearing commenced, the medical certificates of Ahsan and Afridi were presented before Judge Farah Jamshed Khan. The prosecution argued that the suspects were responsible for processing the NADRA forms and issuing CNICs to Sharbat Gula and two others.
The defence contended that there was no truth in the allegations. The counsel argued that Gula had already possessed a Pakistani identity card and added, “on the base of that card she was issued the CNIC”.
“Besides, the petitioners have been under treatment and medical certificates have been produced before the court,” he argued, praying the court to extend their interim bail.
However, instead of accepting the defence counsel’s arguments, the court suspended their bail before arrest and issued arrest warrants.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2016.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ