SHC allows children of single parents to get CNIC without father’s information

In a ruling, the Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) to issue Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) to a woman who didn’t know about her father’s whereabouts, reports Samaa.

Rubina was brought up by a single mother as her father had left the family many years ago. The local court ordered NADRA to issue CNIC to Rubina based on her mother’s citizenship record. Her mother works in the Education Department.

When Rubina, who is specially-abled, turned 18 and went to a local NADRA office to obtain her CNIC, she was told that the card would not be issued unless she provides the record of both her parents.

“When I went to the NADRA office, they refused to issue me CNIC and asked to bring my father or any other guardian. Where could I have found my father, who left me and my mother when I was young?”

She filed a petition with the court, which resulted in a landmark verdict. In the past, many orphans in Pakistan have faced this problem regarding the issuance of CNIC.

Advocate Usman Farooq stated that the ruling would apply to similar cases and now the children with single parents would be able to get their CNICs after producing the record of only a single parent.