Court directs CPO to frame uniform guideline on passport issue

A special court today directed the chief passport officer (CPO) to frame a "uniform policy" to be followed by all regional offices across India about action required to be taken while impounding or releasing passport of a person seized by the investigating agency during the probe.
The court observed that in various coal blocks allocation scam cases, passports of various accused were seized by CBI during the investigation and thereafter were sent to regional passport offices (RPOs) across the country for action under the Passports Act.
"However, it is noticed that RPOs are acting or initiating action as per their own discretion without following any uniform policy which ought to have been followed," Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar said.

"In a number of such cases, it has been seen that either no action is initiated by RPO qua the passports so received or the passports are simply lying in their offices for months and years together and it is only when accused persons move for a court order that the RPO starts initiating some or the other action," it said.
"In these circumstances, it is directed that the CPO should frame a uniform policy which should be followed by all RPOs across the country regarding action to be taken in this regard or as to in which type of cases the court orders, if any, are required," it said adding that copy of the guidelines framed be also placed before it.

The court observed that a normal person was forced to run from pillar to post to get his passport from the concerned RPO which works as per their "whims and fancies".

The issue cropped up when the court was hearing pleas of six persons, who were named as accused in CBI's FIR but not chargesheeted in a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand to accused firm Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL).
During the hearing, regional passport officer (RPO) of Ranchi and an Assistant Passport Officer from the Ministry of External Affairs appeared before it to clarify on the issue.

Ranchi's RPO Sanatan said though initially passports of the six applicants were impounded but later on their passports were released to them without asking for court orders as five out of them were not chargesheeted by CBI.
CBI's investigating officer, however, contradicted him and said that passports were not being released and the RPO was asking for court orders to release it.