The Peshawar High Court has intervened to stop the deportation of a Pakistani national officially named Quaid-e-Azam, granting him a reprieve while he challenges the state’s refusal to recognize his citizenship.
Justice Shakeel Ahmad issued the stay order on Tuesday, specifically barring the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and other authorities from deporting the petitioner. The court directed him to appear before a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) scrutiny board to resolve the ongoing dispute over his identity documents.
The man, a resident of Peshawar, has spent years caught in a bureaucratic deadlock. Authorities flagged his citizenship status, claiming his documentation was irregular, and subsequently moved to deport him. His legal team maintains that he is a local resident whose name — an homage to the founder of Pakistan — has ironically become the center of his struggle to prove his nationality.
The petitioner’s lawyer argued that deporting a citizen to a country where he has no roots is a violation of fundamental rights. He told the court that the state’s inability to verify his records shouldn’t result in his expulsion, especially when the petitioner has provided evidence of his local lineage.
For its part, NADRA has consistently maintained that the petitioner’s biometric and registration data failed to meet the verification criteria required for a Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC). This technical mismatch has left him without legal status, effectively turning him into a foreigner in his own hometown.
The court’s decision shifts the burden back to the scrutiny board. They must now review his case file and determine whether the documentation provided is sufficient to grant him the citizenship he claims.
While the court has provided a temporary shield, the petitioner’s legal status remains in limbo. He is scheduled to appear before the board in the coming weeks — a hearing that will ultimately decide if he remains in Peshawar or faces expulsion from the country he was named after.
