A VERY IMPORTANT JUDGEMENT OF LAHORE HIGH COURT
NADRA CNIC Name Correction Without Court Order
Sections: S. 9 & 5(3)
National Database and Registration Authority (NIC) Rules 2002, R.13
Constitution of Pakistan, Article 199
Constitutional Petition
Background: The petitioner had sought correction on his national identity card on the ground that the name of his father had been incorrectly entered.
NADRA's Contention: NADRA (respondent) refused to make the necessary correction on the ground that for a change in the father's name, a court order was necessary. NADRA relied on its Registration Policy and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to support this contention.
Validity of the Judgment
The Lahore High Court made the following key observations and conclusions:
- The error was clearly a typographic mistake.
- NADRA is required to maintain a national database, and every citizen is issued a national identity card (CNIC). The CNIC is a legal document for citizen identification, and its issuance implies that the information contained therein is valid and correct.
- NADRA, by not correcting an error in its database or on the CNIC, was going against the spirit of the law, not performing its primary function, and perpetuating a mistake in its own database, thereby negating the purpose of the national identity card.
- NADRA was obligated to maintain a correct database and print correct information on the CNIC and correct any error in its database or the CNIC issued to a citizen.
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Registration Policy were internal instructions for NADRA's efficiency and consistency but did not have the force of law and were not binding on NADRA. They could not be used as a basis for denying the petitioner's right to have correct information in the database and on the CNIC.
- Delay in filing an application for correction of an office mistake should not hinder or prevent the process of actually correcting the NADRA database or the CNIC.
Court's Decision
The Lahore High Court directed NADRA to treat the pending request of the petitioner as a correction of an office mistake and to correct the petitioner's father's name in the database and issue him a new CNIC.
Outcome: The constitutional petition was allowed.