Lahore: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that civil courts do not have the authority to decide cases involving disputed or suspicious citizenship, setting aside lower court orders that had directed the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to issue Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) to two individuals.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, the court allowed NADRA’s appeals and instructed the two applicants to approach the NADRA Verification Board within 30 days to pursue their claims regarding their identity cards.
The court further directed the NADRA Verification Board to decide the matter within 60 days in accordance with the law after examining the available evidence.
According to the judgment, NADRA had challenged decisions of the Senior Civil Judge, Sialkot, and the District and Sessions Judge, which had ordered the authority to issue CNICs to the two individuals despite questions surrounding their citizenship status.
The ruling noted that obtaining a CNIC is a fundamental right for Pakistani citizens. The applicants had maintained that they were Pakistani citizens by birth, while NADRA had classified them as foreign nationals and blocked their identity cards.
The High Court observed that NADRA had presented documentary evidence supporting its position, describing the material placed before the court as reliable. It further held that the respondents had failed to establish their claim of Pakistani citizenship through sufficient evidence.
Justice Kayani also found that the lower courts had overlooked important documentary evidence and failed to apply the relevant legal principles while deciding the cases. The judgment stated that the High Court was empowered to correct such legal errors.
Consequently, the Lahore High Court declared both lower court judgments void and referred the matter to the NADRA Verification Board, reaffirming that questions relating to disputed citizenship must be decided through the statutory mechanism provided under the law rather than by civil courts.
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