Month: January 2016
Cancellation Or Rejection Of Passport Without Any Notice
Issue of Passport – Sovereign Function
The decision to issue a passport or not is a sovereign function. The Govt. of India does have the right to reject issue or rejection of Passport in appropriate cases.
Having said that, not issuing a passport for wrong and invalid reasons can amount to deficiency in services. And the aggrieved person can approach the Consumer Forums or the High Court for relief.
4 January 2016 – Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court took the passport office to task over pending applications and rejections without valid reasons.
A division bench comprising Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice B P Colabawalla issued a warning to the passport office that if the court came across such cases in the future, the concerned passport officer would be penalized heavily.
Brief Facts of the Case
A Kandivali resident Amit Agarwal filed a writ that his passport, which was renewed in 2013, had been abruptly cancelled after he approached the passport office to get his birth date corrected on it.
Agarwal’s lawyer, Vivek Kantawala, informed the court that the passport was cancelled without giving his client a hearing. Agarwal is a businessman who travels often – substantiated by the numerous visa stamps on his previous passport. He had applied for a renewal of his passport well before its expiry date of July 2014, and was provided with the same in 2013.
However, when he approached the passport office to correct his birth date, which showed that he was a year younger than he was, the passport office cancelled his passport saying that Agarwal had failed to disclose a case that had been filed against him by his wife. Agarwal, in his petition, had said that the disclosure of the case was not held relevant by him as it was filed after he had already received his renewed passport.
When the court inquired from the passport office about the compliance of the sections pertaining to the issuance of passports/travel documents, which mandate an order, the passport authorities had no reply. The court then issued a warning to the authorities, directing them to pass an order on Agarwal’s application by January 11.
Court’s Observations
“We fail to understand as to why this court’s precious time should be wasted by the regional passport officer by forcing parties, like the petitioner, to approach this court and seek a direction of such nature. The passport officer must realize that it is his obligation and duty to consider the application. The applications, as made online, or presented physically, have all to be considered,” observed the bench.
Asking the passport officers to treat online as well as regular applications at the same level, the court observed that the rules laid down under the Passport Act 1967 should be followed properly.
“If the passport officer is satisfied after the enquiries that are required to be made that the passport must be issued with or without endorsement or should be refused, has to pass a reasoned order.
Hereafter, if applications of the above nature are kept pending without any orders being passed forcing parties to approach this court, then, we would take a serious view of the conduct of the Regional Passport Officer concerned and while allowing the request we would impose heavy costs to be paid personally by the Regional Passport Officer,” the bench added.
My Views
I myself have come across instances of cancellation of passport without issuing any valid show cause notice, without giving a personal hearing, on wrong and illogical reasons simply because the police submit some unconnected report. This illegal practice should be stopped.
Binoy Gupta – http://www.consumerforumhelp.com/?p=531
Consumer Alert – January 2016
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New Website for Consumers
Consumer Forum Help (www.consumerforumhelp.com) is a website for the latest articles and information about consumer law.
These articles will help every person know their rights as a consumer and protect their interests when the need comes to. Consumer rights protect consumers in getting their rights in many day to day things like medical insurance, flights, flats, properties, retail purchases and the knowledge of such rights will help every person throughout their lives.
Consumer Forum Help is headed by Dr. Binoy Gupta, an ex Chief Commisioner of Income Tax and a very highly learned LLB, ML and PhD in law. He and his team are sincere in their attempts at bringing rights to consumers and this website is their attempt at getting the information across to everyone.
Contact – How To Contact Us
Hello, we are always open to handling any type of case in the consumer forums in Mumbai. Please feel free to contact us for free consultation or for legal representation.
(However, we can only offer free consultation for cases in other places. But this will be a great help if you are ready to represent your own cases in Consumer Forums)
Email: eleena100@hotmail.com
Phone: 09819116360
You will directly be in touch with Dr. Binoy Gupta, ex Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, LLB, ML and PhD in Law.
He has half a dozen P G Diplomas in a variety of subjects. You can search for his name on google to see the various landmark victories he has had in consumer forum against such companies as BEST, Zee, ICICI Lombard, and Insurance Companies. He specializes in cases against builders, housing societies and insurance.
Do-able Goals for Mumbai for 2016
- Convert all STD kiosks into public WiFi hotspots
- Convert Trash to electricity
- Unclog Bandra and Ghatkopar Stations
- Instal Escalators at all major railway stations
All of them are do-able within a reasonable cost and within less than a year.
Do we have the will?
Click Here for the full detailed story by Ajit Ranade in Mumbai Mirror