TNN, Sep 23, 2010,
CHENNAI: Alarmed at the high incidence of issuance of Tatkal passports on the basis of fake and forged documents, the Madras high Court has summoned the chief passport officer, New Delhi, to appear in court in person on November 1 and explain the situation in detail.
The first bench comprising Chief Justice M Yusuf Eqbal and Justice TS Sivagnanam, passing orders on a public interest writ petition filed by E Veera Rajendran of Pattukkottai in Thanjavur district, said: "When the matter was heard on July 22, the central government's standing counsel was directed to seek instructions on the matter. But today (Wednesday), none has appeared on behalf of the respondents. Since the matter appears to be serious, by adjourning the case to November 1, 2010, we direct the respondent authorities joint secretary (CPV) and the chief passport officer, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi to appear in person before us on November 1, and file an exhaustive affidavit as to the steps being taken for checking and stopping the issuance of out-of-turn passports on the basis of fake and forged certificates."
In his PIL, Veera Rajendran, an approved travel agent, questioned the legality of a December 23, 2006 notification amending the Passport Rules 1999, which allowed issuing tatkal passport on payment of a higher processing fee. As per the amendment, even in the absence of a police verification report, the passport could be issued.
Quoting a question raised in Parliament, Veera Rajendran submitted that the external affairs minister had admitted that more than 580 cases of passports issued on the basis of fake documents and fake identities had come to the notice of the centre.
Relying on information obtained through the Right To Information (RTI) Act, the petitioner said that in 2007, the police had given adverse reports in 1,087 cases, and the number went up to 1,795 in 2008. It was 1,788 in 2009 and 526 so far this year.
Veera Rajendran contended that the original method of issuing passport on first-come-first-served basis should be restored, and only in genuine meritorious cases should out-of-turn passports should be considered. It should be only on submitting proof of urgency. Besides being discriminatory, the tatkal scheme has ushered in irregularities and corruption in the system, he said.
In their interim orders, the judges said: "In this PIL, the petitioner has brought to the notice of this court certain serious irregularities being committed by the passport-issuing authorities while issuing out-of-turn (Tatkal) passports."
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