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Official Citation: 2024 MLD 1774
Court / Jurisdiction: Lahore High Court
Year of Decision: 2024
Decision Date: 2024-01-08
Parties: Abdul Qadir and others vs Federation of Pakistan and others
Ruling Summary: This decision was rendered by the Lahore High Court on 2024-01-08, officially reported as 2024 MLD 1774. In this matter between Abdul Qadir and others and Federation of Pakistan and others, the court adjudicated key questions of statutory construction, procedural regularity, and legal precedent under Pakistani law.
Core Holding: The honorable bench evaluated governing statutory provisions and judicial authorities to establish the rights of the parties, delivering the binding reasoning set out below.
Case cited as 2024 MLD 1774
Court Name: Lahore High Court Judge(s): Shams Mehmood Mirza Title: Abdul Qadir and others vs Federation of Pakistan and others Case No.: W.P. No. 12376 of 2023 Date of Judgment:2024-01-08 Reported As: 2024 MLD 1774 Result: Petition allowed
Judgment
ORDER SHAMS MEHMOOD MIRZA, J. This writ petition seeks a direction from this Court to National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to unblock the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) of petitioners Nos.2 to 4. 2. The petitioners allege that they their CNICs were validly issued and were subsequently renewed by NADRA from time to time. It is stated that NADRA without issuing any show cause notice to the petitioners blocked their CNICs. It is alleged that the petitioners approached the respondents and furnished all the requisite documents but they were verbally informed that petitioners Nos.2 to 4 fall in alien category. 3. Report and parawise comments have been filed on behalf of respondents Nos.3 to 5 in which it is stated that the case of the petitioners was examined by the NADRA vigilance branch whereafter it was sent to verifying agency (Intelligence Bureau) for probe of their status. The verifying agency in its report found that the particulars of the petitioners could not be verified. Resultantly, the petitioners' CNICs were digitally impounded in alien category. 4. The respondents have not appended any document on record reflecting the determination by the verifying agency regarding the status of the petitioners. The petitioners, on the other hand, have appended the relevant documents which also include the properties purchased by them. 5. The learned Islamabad High Court in the case of Hafiz Hamad Ullah Sabbor v. Government of Pakistan through Ministry of Interior etc PLD 2021 Islamabad 305 has held that NADRA or the intelligence agencies are not competent to determine the citizenship of a person. It was stated that "This Court has consistently observed that the Authority was bereft of jurisdiction to adjudicate
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upon a question which involves the determination of the status of a person as a citizen of Pakistan and that too, on the basis of reports received from intelligence agencies which are under the control of the Government." With reference to the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951 (the Act) it was held that a person cannot be denied the right of being a citizen nor deprived of it save as provided under the Act. Similarly, it was also held that NADRA has no right under the National Database and Registration Authority Ordinance, 2000 to determine the question of citizenship which can only be adjudicated by the competent authority under the Act and the rules framed thereunder. It was furthermore noted that NADRA had no power to suspend or block the CNIC as it would tantamount to suspending the citizenship of a registered citizen. 6. This Court is in respectful agreement with the law laid down by the Islamabad High Court in the aforementioned judgment. In the circumstances, this writ petition is allowed and the respondents are directed to forthwith unblock the CNIC of the petitioners.