PHC seeks Nadra’s response over citizen’s blocked CNIC

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday issued a notice to the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), seeking a response in a case challenging the blocking of a citizen’s computerized national identity card (CNIC).

A two-member bench comprising Justice Wiqar Ahmad and Justice Fazal Subhan heard the writ petition filed by Dilawar Khan, a resident of Mardan, whose CNIC renewal request was denied by Nadra because his father’s identity card had been blocked.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel, Malik Shehbaz Advocate, informed the court that his client was a Pakistani citizen who had been issued a valid CNIC. However, when the card expired and he applied for its renewal, he was told that the process could not proceed due to

the status of his father’s blocked CNIC.

The lawyer argued that as a result of the blocked CNIC, his client had been facing multiple difficulties - including the freezing of his bank account and problems concerning the schooling of his children. He added that Nadra officials refused to provide any explanation for the blocking and maintained that renewal was not possible due to the status of the father’s identity card.The lawyer contended that it was his client’s constitutional right, as a Pakistani citizen, to possess a valid CNIC.