KARACHI (Dunya News) – The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday ordered the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to convene a zonal board meeting by tomorrow to verify the applicant, in response to a contempt of court petition for failing to comply with earlier orders regarding the issuance of a CNIC to a woman named Zarina.
The hearing was held in the SHC on the contempt petition filed against Nadra officials for not implementing court orders in Zarina’s CNIC case. The court expressed displeasure over Nadra's non-compliance.
Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro remarked that Nadra officials' attitude towards the public is entirely inappropriate. He questioned the verification and vetting procedures followed by Nadra and whether the authority even had a proper token system in place for citizens.
A Nadra representative replied that tokens are indeed issued for public turn-taking.
The court criticised the service delays, saying that citizens leave their work to visit Nadra offices, only to be told that staff are on lunch breaks. “Don’t harass citizens like this,” the judge warned. “We could also summon Nadra officials to court, make them sit here, and then tell them to come back tomorrow.”
The judge added that Nadra's zonal board had previously been instructed to verify the applicant, but even that wasn’t done. “Is it really that difficult for the board to determine whether the applicant is eligible for a CNIC or not?” the court asked. Nadra has been ordered to submit a progress report within 15 days.
The petitioner’s lawyer argued that the court had already directed Nadra to verify Zarina’s case back in March 2025. The applicant reportedly has no blood relatives, and had requested the court to order that her CNIC be issued based on her marital relationship with her husband.