New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued notice to the external affairs ministry, home ministry and Delhi Police commissioner on a PIL alleging that mass-scale illegal Indian passports were being provided to foreigners and Indians on the basis of "false verification reports" issued by the special branch of Delhi Police and police departments across India.
A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw termed the allegation as "very serious" and asked the Centre, Delhi government and Delhi Police commissioner respond to the public interest litigation within four weeks.
The PIL, filed by NGO Paardarshita Public Welfare Foundation through general secretary Harkrishan Das Nijhawan, claimed that Indian passports were issued to foreigners, who are not residing at the given addresses and, in some cases, addresses which do not exist.
The PIL alleged: "Mass-scale illegal passports are issued to the nationals of Afghans, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Nepalese and Sri Lankans as well as Indian citizens on the basis of recommendation of false police verification reports issued by the Special Branch of Delhi Police and police department of states as well as union territories across India."
Hearing the plea, the court said "this is a very serious issue". It asked the government if it did not have an independent verification other than the police.
"Don't you (government) have independent verification by passport office other than police verification? Very serious allegations are raised in the petition. Passport has been issued on addresses which are non-existing. File response within four weeks," said the bench.
Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain appearing for the Centre told the bench that the police is the competent authority for verification.
The plea sought immediate action to stop issuing Indian passports to foreigners and Indians on fake police verification reports and action against those involved.
The plea said the NGO wrote to ministries and investigating agencies on the issue but nothing was done.
It then filed an RTI (right to information) application in the office of the Regional Passport Office, New Delhi, asking for certain information with regard to Indian passports being issued to Afghan nationals, passports issued to applicants not residing at the given addresses as well as non-existing addresses in village Humayunpur, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi.
The information was denied.
The NGO said it has also approached the Chief Passport Officer, Ministry of External Affairs, who heads all passport issuing offices. He explained that they are fully dependant on police verification reports submitted by the Special Branch in Delhi as well as local police/intelligence units across India.
The plea sought the intervention of the National Investigating Agency and the Central Bureau of Investigation on the issue where thousands of foreigners, criminals and anti-social elements are obtaining Indian passports.
This can endanger citizens of this country as well as other foreign countries where an Indian citizen or foreigner could enter. They could seek refuge/political asylum on the grounds of his/her original nationality. "It would be a great shame to our country on the world platform," the plea said.
E-commerce companies' earnings grew during the Corona period
A few years ago, Arvind Singhal of Technopak Advisors predicted that the country would see a big change in the shopping sector by increasing the FDI limit in e-commerce and retail, but at the time,
Weather Update: Fog wreaks havoc in North India... chill continues, icy winds increase shivering in UP
The fog that has been wreaking havoc across North India for the past several days subsided a bit on Wednesday morning, but no significant reduction in the cold was felt. The minimum temperature in
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said inflation is the biggest concern for the economy
Despite the spurt in economic activity, the persistently high rate of inflation remains the biggest concern for the economy. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said, earlier this month it was voted in favor
Rohit Shetty brought his 'Indian Police Force' on Amazon, Sidharth Malhotra's cop style
Bollywood's famous producer-director Rohit Shetty has brought a new cop series for his fans. The name of his web series is 'Indian Police Force'. Rohit Shetty is making his debut on the OTT platform
EC press conference at 4.30 pm: Election dates will be announced in 5 states, BJP government in only one of these states
There will be a press conference on Friday at 4.30 pm from the Election Commission. In this, the dates of assembly elections to be held in 5 states will be announced. These states are West Bengal,
RBI Announcement: UPI payment can be done through credit card, and big discount are given to cooperative banks too
On Wednesday, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das announced the results of the monetary policy meeting, increasing the repo rate by 0.50 percent. Thereafter, the policy rates increased from
Big success for Taliban in Afghanistan, IS Khorasan military chief Qari Fateh killed
Qari Fateh, Minister of War and Military Chief of the Islamic State (IS) Khorasan Province, has been killed by the Taliban. The Islamic State has killed two people in Khorasan province in separate
Singer looking for a life partner: Mika Singh will do Swayamvar on National TV, Contestants from all over the country will join
Many celebs have searched for their life partner by doing swayamvar through TV. Now the name of singer Mika Singh is also going to be added to this list. The singer is also going to organize his
Mayawati woke up from defeat: 'Group 4' strategy made for 2024, special focus on these communities
After the worst ever performance of BSP in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Mayawati has become active and the organization is being tightened from top to bottom. In this episode, Mayawati had
Burdwan blast: NIA arrests absconding accused
Kolkata, March 21 (IANS) The NIA on Saturday arrested Abdul Wahab Momin, one of the absconding accused in the Burdwan blast, here in the West Bengal capital, an official said."Wahab, a resident of