A woman allegedly had her living husband declared dead in official records through fraudulent means, obtained a passport for their child by presenting him as an orphan, and subsequently took the child abroad, a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) spokesperson has revealed.
The unusual case was highlighted by NADRA spokesperson Syed Shabahat Ali during a podcast, in which he explained how a living person could be incorrectly registered as deceased and what steps could be taken to restore their identity records.
NADRA spokesperson said such cases could arise when a death is wrongly registered at a Union Council based on incorrect information or a fraudulent death certificate.
How can a living person restore their NADRA record?
Explaining the procedure for people wrongly declared dead, Shabahat Ali said the affected individual must visit a NADRA registration center and undergo biometric verification.
Following successful verification, the person’s identity record can be restored, he said.
He added that NADRA does not require additional documents from the affected individual for this particular process.
Ali clarified that filing a police case over a fraudulent death registration was not NADRA’s responsibility. The affected person or another relevant party would have to initiate legal proceedings.
He said people wrongly declared deceased did not necessarily need to approach the courts simply to have their NADRA records restored.
They could visit a NADRA center for biometric verification, after which the authority would take the necessary action to reactivate their records.
If a court requests information, NADRA can provide the documents submitted to the Union Council for the death registration, along with the relevant information held in its own database.
He also clarified that Union Councils were not subordinate to NADRA, although the authority provided them with computerized software to maintain registration records.
The responsibility for entering death registrations into the system rested with Union Council staff, while family members were responsible for reporting the death of a relative.
He stressed that a death could not be registered solely based on a verbal statement. The process required relevant forms, identity card details, witnesses’ signatures, and other supporting information.
