The Centre has refused to issue a fresh passport to former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on the basis of an adverse report by the J&K Crime Investigation Department (CID).
“Where as your application for fresh passport was received and the same was forward for Police Verification,’’ the regional passport office said in a letter addressed to Mufti. It said a police verification is mandatory for issuance of passport to all J&K citizens, for which the CID is the nodal agency.
“In your case, the police verification was received as ‘not recommended’,’’ the letter said, adding that, “In light of the above, your application for issuance of passport is refused.”
The letter further said if Mufti has any grievance against this decision, she can appeal to the Passport Officer under the Ministry of External Affairs.
Reacting to the denial of passport, Mufti tweeted, “Passport Office refused to issue my passport based on CID’s report citing it as ‘detrimental’ to the security of India.” The tweet also included a photo of a letter from the passport office.
“This is the level of normalcy achieved in Kashmir since August 2019 that an ex-chief minister holding a passport is a threat to the sovereignty of a mighty nation,” she said. Mufti had applied for a fresh passport in May last year after expiry of her previous passport in December 2019.
The police had opposed issuing her a fresh passport citing her “adverse” activities. The former chief minister then moved the court where the counsel for external affairs ministry sought short adjournment of the hearing of the case after the counsel representing the J&K CID informed the court that Mufti’s verification report was submitted on March 18.
Mufti’s counsel had argued in the court that according to instructions of external affairs ministry an individual should be provided a passport within 30 days but in Mufti’s case the verification was pending. The court had listed the case for March 29.
Mufti was one of the 50 plus political leaders who were detained after the revocation of Article 370. She was released from detention in October last year.
The Enforcement Directorate is presently carrying out investigation against her in a money laundering case.
