Hafiz Hamdullah citizenship case: NADRA submits its reply in IHC

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has submitted its reply in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a case related to the suspension of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) Senator Hafiz Hamdullah’s citizenship, ARY News reported on Saturday.

The reply submitted by DG NADRA, Tahir Maqsood Khan says that despite investigation the old CNIC of the JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah, neither his family link in the record.

The court has been pleaded to reject Hamdullah’s plea as he was declared an Afghan National on December 12, 2018.

“Hamdullah’s national identity card had been blocked for the first time in December 2018 after writing a letter to him, whereas, a district-level committee was also informed where the politician had also appeared. The particulars presented by Hamdullah to the committee were found bogus”, the reply reads.

Back in the month of October, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had suspended order released to cancel the citizenship of Hafiz Hamdullah.

Read more: Pemra bars TV channels from inviting JUI-F’s Hafiz Hamdullah on talkshows

The Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah had conducted the hearing on a petition challenging the higher authorities’ decision that revoked the citizenship of Senator Hamdullah by calling him ‘alien’ for being an Afghanistan citizenship.

On October 26, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) had issued notice to all television channels, barring to invite Hafiz Hamdullah in TV programmes.

The authority (PEMRA) ordered all television channel in its letter, a copy of which obtained by ARY News, to stop inviting and projecting the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) firebrand Senator Maulana Hafiz Hamdullah as he is a ‘confirmed Alien’ as per records of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and ‘not a citizen of Pakistan’.