July 28, 2026
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
A man named Quaid-e-Azam, a honorific often used with the name of the Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was stopped from being deported after the Peshawar High Court directed authorities not to do so.
The court directed the Peshawar-based resident to appear before a verification board of the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) which was also asked to submit a report on why it had blocked the man’s computerised national identity card.
A two-member PHC bench, comprising Justice Waqar Ahmed and Justice Inamullah Khan, was hearing a petition filed by resident Quaid-e-Azam against the blocking of his national identity card.
The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Saifullah Mohib Kakakhel, told Voicepk that the reason behind this case was that, without any notice, his client’s identity card was blocked, as a result of which all his bank accounts and SIM cards were also blocked.
Following this, he approached the court and took the position that all his documents are complete and available. He possesses identity documents older than 1979 which is significant in cases to prove that the person is not an Afghan refugee that came to Pakistan during the Afghan war.
“His entire family holds CNICs (identity cards), and all the legal requirements have been fulfilled. He is neither an Afghan national, nor an alien, nor a citizen of any other country. He has never obtained any card fraudulently that would justify blocking his card,” Kakakhel said.
Kakakhel said he pleaded this matter before the court and explained that all documents are available, and we also appeared before the relevant authority. However, instead of cooperating, they were harassing his client and repeatedly summoning us. “My client is a resident of Peshawar and has a large-scale business operations both in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Pakistan, and he regularly pays income tax in Pakistan,” Kakakhel said.
The court has given a date for his client to appear, and has also sought a report from the relevant authority as to why the card was blocked. Once this report is submitted to the court, it will be shown to everyone.”
Advocate Saifullah Mohib Kakakhel appeared on behalf of the petitioner, while Nadra’s legal representative Shahid Imran Gigiyani represented the authority.
During the hearing on July 27, the petitioner’s counsel informed the court that his client was doing business in Dubai and Pakistan. He said the authorities had blocked his client’s national identity card. The counsel said his client was a Pakistani citizen who was running a business and paying taxes to the government.
He said his client was being penalised by the blocking of his identity card, which was causing him immense hardship.Kakakhel said his client was now being asked to produce his uncle before Nadra. He said other members of his client’s family also held Pakistani identity cards.
Gigiyani, assistant director legal at Nadra, told the bench that the authority had submitted its response to the court. However, he said the petitioner’s identity card was considered suspicious and had therefore been blocked.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the bench directed the petitioner to appear before Nadra’s verification board and restrained the authorities from deporting him until then.