By: Kamran Ali Shah
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued a stay order, halting the Bajaur authorities’ orders to cancel identity cards and deport Pakistani citizens. This decision comes in a landmark case involving the writ petition filed by Syed Qasim, who asserts that he is a Pakistani citizen by birth, with both his father and grandfather having national identity cards and property records in Pakistan.
The petitioners’ lawyer, Saifullah Mohib Kakakhel, Advocate of the Supreme Court, argued in the court of Justice Waqar Ahmed and Justice Dr. Khurshid Iqbal that the Assistant Commissioner, Additional Deputy Commissioner, and other revenue officers failed to resolve the property case on its merits. Instead, they relied on a ration pass—originally issued to provide rations to disadvantaged groups and Afghan refugees—declaring the petitioners as non-Pakistani. Consequently, they sent letters to the Ministry of Interior and other institutions to cancel the petitioners’ identity cards and initiate deportation.
In response to this illegal action, the court sought responses from NADRA, the Ministry of Interior, the Additional Assistant Commissioner, and the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Bajaur, issuing a stay order until further notice on the implementation of these orders.
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