PHC hearing: DG NADRA summoned for flouting court orders

Despite PHC orders, authority refused to issue NIC to Russian woman.

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) issued a show-cause notice to the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) director general (DG) and summoned him for failing to comply with court orders after a Peshawar Nadra office denied an NIC to a Russian woman.

The office said they could not issue the NIC because the interior ministry had changed the policy for issuing a Pakistani Origin Card.

Christina Petrochinkova, who was renamed Parveen after she embraced Islam, married Charsadda resident Ikramullah in Thailand in 2005. On April 13, 2005, Ikramullah brought Parveen to Pakistan where she obtained Pakistani nationality.

After a number of domestic disputes between the 72-year-old Ikramullah and the 29-year-old Parveen, the couple decided to divorce and approached a local court.

Ikramullah, according to Parveen’s counsel, alleged that she had stolen Rs1.2million and 360 grams of gold, adding that Ikram also took Parveen’s passport and NIC into his possession.

Parveen later approached the court for a pre-arrest bail and requested that an identity card be issued to her.

The court, during the last hearing of the case, had approved the pre-arrest bail application and had ordered Nadra to issue Parveen her NIC within seven days. On Monday however, Chief Justice (CJ) PHC Dost Muhammad Khan was informed that Nadra had refused to issue her NIC.

Investigation officials, ASI Zahid Khan and Investigation Inspector Iftikhar also presented the preliminary investigation report and informed the court that charges against Parveen appeared to be based on false accusations.

When asked by the PHC CJ, Parveen replied that she had approached the Russian embassy, but the embassy refused to help her and said she should visit Moscow for a new passport as it could not issue her a passport from Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2012.