HC issues rule to create NID without photo

The High Court has issued a rule asking why a directive will not be given to take necessary steps to create the National Identity Card (NID) without photo using the biometric features.

The bench of Justice Mamunur Rahman and Justice Khondaker Diliruzzaman on Sunday issued the rule after hearing a writ petition.

In the court, lawyer Masuma Jamayel stood for the petitioner while deputy attorney general Bipul Bagmar for the state. 

Sayeda Sumaiya Ahmad Muna, a resident of Shantinagar in the capital, filed the writ in the court. Her husband Muhammad Arifur Rahman was given authority in the writ petition.

Earlier on February 10, Muna filed an application to the Election Commission, requesting it to take necessary measures to create NID in an alternative way instead of using photo.

She said she refrain from capturing any kind of photo as she complies with the Islamic Shariah rules, including 'Purdah'. 

Purdah is a custom practiced in Muslim societies in which women cover their faces and bodies to avoid being seen by men who are not related to them. If a woman is in purdah, she lives according to this custom.

Her lawyer said her client lodged the writ in the High Court as the EC had not settle the application. 

The Cabinet secretary, the law secretary, the religious affairs secretary, the home affairs secretary, the LGRD secretary, the Dhaka South City Corporation mayor, the Election Commission secretary, and the chief election commissioner have been made respondents to the writ. 

FH/SU