Issuance of fake CNICs to Afghan nationals exposes Nadra’s wrongdoing

PESHAWAR: The issuance of fake Pakistani computerised national identity cards (CNICs) to Afghan nationals, particularly to the well-known Afghan woman Sharbat Gula, has exposed the wrongdoings in the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).

Currently, thousands of people from Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa whose CNICs have been blocked have filed petitions in the Peshawar High Court (PHC). They are now facing difficulties in travelling, doing businesses and other work. 

The Nadra has blocked the CINCs of the people after suspecting them to be Afghans.Several cases were also filed in the PHC in which the citizens claimed that the CNICs of their families were blocked after they identified outsiders and Afghan nationals who were included in their family trees. 

In the case of Sharbat Gula, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has also nominated three Nadra officers, including a woman, for issuing fake Pakistani CNIC to her and two others family members.

On October 20, the FIA registered an FIR against Sharbat Gula and three former Nadra employees in the case involving wrongful issuance of CNICs to the woman and two men. As per the FIR, after completion of an inquiry and checking of records, it has been established that three employees of Nadra, including Palwasha Afridi, Mohsin Ehsan and Emad fraudulently issued identity cards to three Afghan nationals including Sharbat Gula, Wali Khan and Rauf Khan. 

However, all the three officers succeeded in obtaining pre-arrest bails form the court in the case. The FIA has also charged 14 other officers of Nadra with issuing CNICs to Afghan nationals. 

The deputy assistant directors who were charged under Section-30 of Nadra Ordinance include Yazdan Ali, Fazal Shahab, Jabbar Khan, Khizar Hayat, Muhammad Zaman, Khaista Wali, Sadiqur Rehman, Saad Haroon, Syed Asif Ali Shah, Arsalan Javed, Azizuddin, Khalid Jan, Shahid and Bakhtiar Hussain Afridi.

Noor Alam Khan, counsel for Yazdan Ali, told The News that the FIA had charged all the officers on September 8, 2016 for issuing fake CNICs to Afghan nationals.He said that the officers got pre-arrest bails from the special anti-corruption courts and filed petition in the high court for cancelation of FIRs against them.

He said that though there were cases of issuance of fake CNICs against the officers, some of the officers including Yazdan Ali were wrongly charged and even cleared of charges by the inquiry committee report of the FIA.

The PHC on October 6 also restrained the law-enforcing agencies from taking action against the tribal people whose CNICs were blocked by the Nadra on suspicion of being Afghans.

The directions were issued by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Ikramullah Khan in a writ petition of thousands of people from tribal belt against blocking of their CNICs by the Nadra.

The bench directed the law-enforcing agencies, including police, FIA and Police Special Branch not to harass the tribal people till a decision in the petition.

About 4,357 people, including women Khalida, Ayesha Bibi and others, residents of Hazarbuz, Khwaizai Totakhel of Mohmand Agency, had filed a writ petition in the high court against blocking of their CNICs. 

The petition stated that former Governor Lt Gen (R) Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah had taken the initiative to help the residents of the tribal area and establish writ of the government in this area by declaring it as sub-division of the agency.

It said the Mohmand tribe resided in many areas but were mainly concentrated in Nangarhar, Kunduz and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan. In Pakistan they inhabited Mohmand Agency along with a sizeable population of the Mohmands in Peshawar district. The area where the petitioners lived was located close to the Durand Line.

Ghulam Mohiyuddin Malik, who is dealing with the petitions filed against blocking of CNICs in the high court, said that thousands of citizens from Fata and KP were facing the issue as the CNICs of whole families were blocked on the suspicion that they were Afghan nationals. 

During the course of hearing, PHC Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel had directed the Nadra to speed up the verification process of blocked CNICs as thousands people were facing difficulties.