The High Court has dismissed a rule seeking measures to allow national identity (NID) cards to be issued using biometric features without photographs. As a result, photographs will be required for issuing national identity cards.
The High Court bench comprising Justice Md Iqbal Kabir and Justice S M Saiful Islam delivered the verdict on Wednesday.
Advocates Sheikh Omar Sharif and Ilias Ali Mondal represented the petitioner, while advocate Kamal Hossain Miazi appeared for the Election Commission.
Confirming the verdict, Kamal Hossain Miazi said, “The court has dismissed the rule. Therefore, NID cards cannot be issued without photographs.”
In 2022, Sumaiya Ahmad Muna, a resident of Shantinagar in the capital’s Shahjahanpur area, filed the writ petition, stating that she observes purdah in accordance with Islamic Shariah. Her husband, Muhammad Arifur Rahman, was authorised to represent her in the petition.
Earlier, on February 10 of that year, Muna applied to the Election Commission. In her application, she said she was an adult Muslim woman who observed purdah and regularly followed Islamic Shariah. For this reason, she refrained from having her photograph taken. As a result, she did not have a national identity card and was being deprived of various services and benefits due to the lack of an NID.
She subsequently applied to the Election Commission seeking necessary measures to obtain an NID through an alternative system without a photograph. However, after her application was not disposed of, she filed the writ petition with the High Court.
On March 6, 2022, the High Court, after hearing the writ petition, issued a rule asking why the authorities should not be directed to take necessary steps to issue NIDs using biometric features as an alternative form of identification without photographs.
The High Court dismissed the rule on Wednesday.
At the time the rule was issued, the state had told the court that issuing NIDs without photographs would be contrary to the Constitution. The state argued that photographs are also required for purposes such as performing Hajj and opening bank accounts. Without a photograph, another person could potentially use someone’s identity to withdraw money, creating complications.
The state also argued that iris scans are required for biometric identification, which would raise the issue of uncovering the face and lifting the veil.
