Key Points
TheSindh High Court has ruled on apetitionfiled by a Hindu man named Har Lal, who challenged the clause asking non-Muslimsto first avow their disassociation with Islam and then declare their faithwhile applying for the Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), issued byPakistans National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA)...
But Thursdays judgmenthas directed the Ministry of Interior and NADRA to redesign the ID cards form in a way that citizens only have to declare their own faithwithout having to disavow an affiliation or association with any other religion...
Karachi-based advocate Abdullah Nizamani, who argued for the petitioner, said the clause was challenged to highlight how this negative declaration was unconstitutional and that NADRA had no feasible argument to defend the clause...
Nizamani recalls that the judgefoundthe argument presented by the counsel representing the Federation of Pakistan as illogical, sayingthat the classification can be done on the basis of religion alone without involving a declaration that defines itself against the faith of Islam...
