NADRA blocks CNIC of former president Pervez Musharraf: sources

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has blocked computerised national identity card (CNIC) of former president Pervez Musharraf, sources informed Geo News Thursday.

Sources said that with the CNIC's blocking, Musharraf's passport has also been blocked and accounts frozen.

The former president has also been deprived of the right to sell more than 10 properties owned by him in Pakistan, they said.

Musharraf owns four plots in Karachi, three in Islamabad among other properties, the sources informed.

The CNIC has not been blocked on the directives of the outgoing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government, the sources said.

They said the outgoing interior minister Ahsan Iqbal had not issued to directives to block Musharraf's CNIC.

The CNIC of the former president has solely been blocked on direct orders by a special court hearing a treason case against him, the sources added.

The court, during the last hearing, had ordered Musharraf to inform it about the date of his return to country, according to sources.

The orders to block the CNIC of the former president were issued afte he failed to inform the court of the date of his return to Pakistan.

Treason case

The former army chief was indicted in a treason case in March 2014 after he appeared before the court and denied all charges.

On March 18, 2016, the former president travelled to Dubai for medical treatment after his name was removed from the Exit Control List (ECL) over the Supreme Court's orders.

A few months later, the special court had declared him a proclaimed offender and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his no-show.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court, while hearing Musharraf’s review petition against his disqualification by the Peshawar High Court, ordered the former president to appear before it, assuring that he would not be arrested.

"We will pass an order ensuring authorities do not arrest the former president before his appearance in court," Chief Justice Saqib Nisar said.

He also remarked, “I will ask returning officers to accept Musharraf’s nomination papers but conditional to the final verdict on his appeal."

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) had announced lifetime disqualification for former president Pervez Musharraf prior to the 2013 general election.

He had filed a plea in 2016 with the Supreme Court against PHC’s verdict.