Bogus CNICs: SC seeks record of Bahria Town employees
ISLAMABAD, Sept 15: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to provide complete record of about 4,000 registered voters who are the employees of Bahria Town and whose temporary addresses have been changed.
A three-judge bench comprising Justice Mian Shakiurllah Jan, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain had taken up complaints on a suo motu regarding issuance of 20,000 bogus computerised national identity cards (CNICs) to the employees of the housing society by changing their temporary addresses allegedly at the behest of real estate tycoon Malik Mohammad Riaz.
During the last hearing, the court had ordered Nadra to immediately remove its office from Sowan Gardens and adjacent areas of Bahria Town.
Mohammad Hashmi, one of the complainants, had told the court earlier that Malik Riaz had ordered his 20,000 workers to get new identity cards having address of Bahria Town, a move that negated the fundamental right of the voters in the National Assembly constituency NA-52, Rawalpindi. He was of the view that around 4,100 identity cards had so far been issued to the workers of the housing society.
The objective behind issuance of the CNICs in such a large number, according to the complainants, was to influence the election process in NA-52, which is the home constituency of PML-N stalwart and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
Majority of the people living in NA-52 are settlers with residential addresses of other localities of the twin cities and other parts of the country.
Efforts are afoot to make the settlers permanent voters by issuing them CNICs with the residential addresses of NA-52 with an
eye on the coming general elections, he added.
The constituency has become a matter of cachet between the PML-N leader and the property developer. Recently, the Rawalpindi police registered criminal cases against Chaudhry Nisar and over a dozen political workers following a brawl over pulling down of huge banners put up in Kural against the PML-N leader. The cases were registered on the complaint of a local newspaper also published by the property tycoon.
Advocate Mohammad Akram Shaikh, representing 900 applicants from Bahria Town, contended that Nadra had not complied with the August 19 court order to close its registration centre near Bahria Town.
He also alleged that Nadra had provided mobile vans and facilitation centres to register around 20,000 employees of the housing society.
On the other hand, Advocate Afnan Kundi, counsel for Nadra, rejected the claim and said they had already closed the centre under the directive of the apex court.
However, Akram Sheikh contended that the centre was relocated to Sowan Gardens which was also owned by the property developer.