LHC overturns earlier court decisions, restores NADRA authority in CNIC cases

LAHORE: Lahore High Court has accepted the petition of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and set aside the verdict of trial court of restoring the identity cards.

The court said national security factors also have to be taken into account in citizenship cases.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani has given a thorough 14-page ruling on NADRA’s appeal against orders restoring CNICs of two persons.

The court said that the burden of proof of citizenship is on the claimant who must also prove Pakistani citizenship of his father and grandfather.

Official records before 1979 are of primary importance in determining citizenship, it said. Evidence in support of the claim may also be given in the form of documents such as birth certificates, old identity cards, passports, domicile certificates and educational records. But in the current case no reliable pre-1979 official record was shown by the claimants.

“The court observed that the reports of NADRA’s Joint Verification Committee have a lot of evidentiary value and the subordinate courts did not consider the material and legal requirements properly available.

The court further said that citizenship was not just about identity cards but about legal status which had to be assessed under the Pakistan Citizenship Act and NADRA laws. The Court held that where the alternative statutory forums are available and the parties must first avail of the relevant NADRA mechanisms, the direct civil claim is not viable.

It further said that no civil claim or writ petition may be heard without first exhausting the remedies before the NADRA Verification Board and other relevant federal fora.

CNICs of Khalid Khan and Attaullah were barred on suspicion of disputed citizenship and their family was declared foreign nationals by a joint verification committee, stated the verdict. Special Branch, ISI and IB reports too did not confirm Pakistan citizenship.

The High Court urged the petitioners to contact the NADRA Verification Board within 30 days while setting aside the lower court verdicts. The board has been directed to decide the matter according to law within 60 days.