Submit complete passport verification reports, cops told

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, September 20

Rapping the police authorities for avoidable litigation stemming from incomplete verification reports, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the submission of information in a standardised proforma prepared after its intervention. The proforma, among other things, ensures comprehensive information about the status of the FIRs.

‘Root cause’

Passport authorities are denying passport on account of adverse police verification report. It has been noticed that police are sending incomplete report, which is the root cause of denial of passport.

Justice Jagmohan Bansal

Justice Jagmohan Bansal also directed high court Registrar-General to forward the order to all passport authorities posted within the court’s jurisdiction and the DGPs of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh for necessary action.

“Henceforth, all police officials posted within the jurisdiction of this court will send their verification report in the proforma. The passport authorities are also directed to ask the police authorities to forward their report in the aforesaid proforma. It will avoid delay on the part of police officials and minimise communication between the stakeholders,” Justice Bansal observed, while addressing the recurrent issue of passport denial arising from incomplete police verification reports.

Justice Bansal observed that the court was daily dealing with more than 10 cases arising on account of denial of passport. The problem primarily arose when passport authorities denied passport based on adverse police verification reports.

He observed that the reports often lacked essential details, causing unjust passport denials. The police officials were casually disclosing that an FIR was pending against the applicant, but failed to provide its actual status. In many instances, the FIR had been cancelled, the final investigation report or challan under Section 173 of the CrPC had not been filed or the applicant had already been convicted often with a sentence of less than two years and more than five years prior to the application.

“If complete information is submitted by the police authorities, a substantial litigation may be avoided,” Justice Bansal asserted.

The high court also directed the passport authorities to consider its observations and findings, while processing pending and subsequent applications.