The Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Chandigarh is faced with a piquant situation. Despite initiating impound proceedings as far as three years ago against a liquor contractor for having a criminal case pending against him and not disclosing the same while obtaining a ‘tatkal’ passport, the liquor contractor continues to not only possess the passport, but has even travelled abroad several times.
“The UT police was negligent in giving the accused a clearance and thus, he was issued a passport. When it came to light that a case was registered against him, we initiated impound proceedings. We will initiate the proceedings again and a letter will also be sent to all passport control points to impound the passport,” said RPO Vitul Kumar.
The case dates back to 2007, when the RPO initiated proceedings to impound the passport issued to a liquor contractor, Azad Singh, following revelations that an FIR was already registered against him in 2001.
Yet, the passport continues to be used, exposing chinks in both the RPO’s impound proceedings and the police passport verification process. The UT police, too, has failed to bring out the guilty, who gave the accused a passport clearance report despite the fact that a forgery case was pending against him.
Between 2007 and 2011, the accused has managed to travel to South Africa, Dubai and Thailand, with both the RPO and the police remaining oblivious to the trips. The RPO has now resumed proceedings to impound Azad Singh’s passport after it came to light he was on the run in two other cases and could again travel overseas.
Azad Singh got a passport, number G-5399405, issued in ‘tatkal’ on October 24, 2007. The then Mani Majra SHO, inspector Hari Kumar, gave him a clearance report despite the fact than an FIR under Sections 420, 468 and 471 of the IPC was registered against him at that very police station in 2001.
In December, 2007, the CID department of the police sent a report to the RPO, mentioning the pending FIR against Azad Singh. That very month, the RPO initiated proceedings to impound the passport.
With proceedings marred by delay, Azad Singh went to South Africa in January, 2010, and flew to Thailand in January this year.
Past month, the police booked Azad Singh under the Excise Act, following which a case of attempt-to-murder was registered against him after he allegedly bashed up the police informer.
He is on the run and no action has been taken by the police department to bring out the guilty who gave him a clearance report or by the RPO as to why his passport was never impounded.
