HC seeks Centre's response on plea against Ansal's passport

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre, the Delhi government, the Chief Passport Officer and businessman Sushil Ansal to file responses on a plea that sought cancellation of his passport.

Justice Najmi Waziri asked the Chief Passport Officer to submit an application filed by Ansal regarding his passport and listed the matter for October 3.

The court was hearing a plea by the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) Chairperson Neelam Krishnamoorthy who alleged that Ansal concealed or gave false information to authorities for renewal of his passport.

The plea alleged that Ansal obtained the passport through illegal means by suppressing the most material information -- that he is facing criminal charges and has been convicted and sentenced for two years in the Uphaar fire tragedy.

In her plea, Krishnamoorthy sought direction to the Central government to initiate an inquiry into the conduct of the passport authorities and Ansal over alleged issue of the passport without following due procedure as mandated by the Passports Act.

She challenged a trial court order that had dismissed her application for initiation of an inquiry against Ansal.

The plea said that Ansal had played a fraud on all criminal courts as he had not taken a no-objection certificate from any of these courts in the past 21 years.

He did not even seek no-objection certificate from the Supreme Court during pendency of his appeal in the main Uphaar fire tragedy case.

In 2014, the Supreme Court convicted Sushil Ansal and his brother Gopal Ansal and restrained them from travelling abroad without permission.

Krishnamoorthy also mentioned a response from the Prime Minister's Office, which said that "Ansal has suppressed material information in the application form and has connived with passport authorities to get his passport reissued without following the due process of law".

--IANS

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