The Balochistan High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by MPA-elect of Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) Ahmed Ali Kohzad, who had challenged the National Database and Registration Authority’s (Nadra) move to block his computerised national identity card.
A division bench comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Abdullah Baloch rejected the petition as non-maintainable. The bench had reserved verdict on the plea on Monday.
At an earlier hearing of the case, an inquiry report submitted by the deputy commissioner of Quetta had said that the HDP leader was an Afghan refugee.
Kohzad, the secretary general of the HDP, was elected to the Balochistan Assembly in the July 25 polls. He had received 5,117 votes against Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal's Wali Muhammad who had received 3,242 votes.
The petitioner’s lawyer Humayun Tareen had pleaded before the court that Nadra had not issued any show-cause notice to his client before blocking his CNIC.
Nadra’s law officer Khalilul Zaman Alizai had informed the bench that the case of blocking Kohzad’s CNIC was pending with the interior ministry.
In its order today, the court ruled that the petition filed by Kohzad was non-maintainable since the matter concerning his identity card was pending with the interior secretary.
Earlier, an arrest warrant was granted by a local court to the Crime Investigation Agency against Kohzad over his alleged involvement in the murder of Muhammad Hafeez, a goldsmith whose body was found in Marriabad a few years ago.
However, the MPA-elect has not been arrested so far.
