LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to correct the final digit of a citizen’s Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) number, while upholding decisions issued by the lower courts.
Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani dismissed NADRA’s appeal and maintained the earlier rulings in the case involving citizen Sajid Maqsood.
During the proceedings, the court was informed that Maqsood’s official record had initially listed the citizen as female before the record was subsequently corrected. Although NADRA issued a new identity card after making the correction, the final digit of the CNIC number remained unchanged.
As a result, the citizen’s gender continued to appear as female in the records of various institutions, creating inconsistencies in official documentation.
The court observed that NADRA had failed to establish any clear legal prohibition against making the required correction. It further held that an error could not be allowed to persist permanently merely on administrative or technical grounds.
The court stated that if changing the identity number was necessary, NADRA should issue a new CNIC number. It also directed the authority to transfer the citizen’s previous records to the new number so that a separate or duplicate identity would not be created.
The Lahore High Court noted that amendments to the relevant law governing the issuance of identity numbers may also be required.
NADRA has been given 60 days to comply with the court’s directions and submit an implementation report.
