Srinagar, Mar 2: Former Chief Minister and PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti, has approached J&K High Court for issuance of passport allegedly denied to her for want for police verification.

In her plea before the court, Mehbooba Mufti said that the passport issued to her was valid till 31st May 2019.

She applied for issuance of a passport before regional Passport Officer on 11 December last year. “The Passport as per the instruction manual is expected to be dispatched within approximately 30 days,” she says.

“After the receipt of the Application, complete in all respects, the (RPO) sought police verification from that of (Addl. Director General of Police, CID) and (Sr. Superintendent of Police, District Srinagar).”

After an efflux of more than a month, she said that on noticing that the Passport has not been dispatched and the same is pending for physical police verification, Mehbooba said that she submitted a representation Passport Officer, stating that despite efflux of more than a month, the report sought by him has not been submitted, notwithstanding the guidelines issued by the Union of India through Secretary to Government, Ministry of External Affairs which mandate that the police verification is required to be completed within a period of 21 days .

“Accordingly, it was requested that the police verification report be forwarded to that of (RPO) at an earliest so that there is no delay in issuance of the Passport,” she said, adding, “That despite representation, it appears from the record that the (Addl. Director General of Police, CID) for reasons unknown, till date has not forwarded the police verification report.”

Subsequently, she has sought directions to the concerned to issue Passport in her favour expeditiously.

She has also sought directions declaring the action of officials concerned in not allowing her to travel abroad as illegal and unconstitutional violating her fundamental right to travel abroad as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution or India.

“Any such order or direction which this Hon’ble court may consider appropriate in the given facts and circumstances of the case,” she added. gns