Rizwana Salim Shaikh v. State of Maharashtra and Anr.

Bombay HC6 Jan 2025WP/6261/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Passport police verification; Police Verification Report (PVR); Adverse PVR; MEA-formulated PVR format; conclusive proof of Indian citizenship; section 3, Citizenship Act; Standing Order No. 167 dated 05/04/2022; Commissioner of Police, Mumbai circulars; delay in verification of documents; Passport Branch SB-II CID Mumbai; PI Prasad Satam affidavit; disposal of writ petition; Rizwana Salim Shaikh v. State of Maharashtra; Bombay High Court 2025.

What did the court decide?

The Court found that the Police have taken appropriate steps to address the issues involved and have also uploaded the same on their website; consequently, nothing survives for further consideration in the petition. ¶¶28

Rizwana Salim Shaikh vs State of Maharashtra and Anr. — Bombay HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Disposed

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Issue for consideration

Whether the petition concerned delay in police verification of documents in the passport issuance process, prompting the affidavit and police measures. +1 more

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Ratio / Principle

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Key takeaways

The Court expressed appreciation for the efforts taken by the Police of the Passport branch for streamlining the process for verification of passport.obiter¶¶30

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bombay High Court (Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction), Writ Petition No.6261 of 2024 — Rizwana Salim Shaikh v. State of Maharashtra & Anr.; Coram: Revati Mohite Dere & Dr. Neela Gokhale, JJ.; decided 22 April 2025. On an affidavit dated 3rd March 2025 of PI Prasad Satam (Passport Branch SB-II, CID, Mumbai) filed through the learned APP to explain delay in verification of documents, the affidavit set out: passport files go to the jurisdictional police station and the Police Verification Report (PVR) is submitted to the RPO; the process follows circulars of the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, including Standing Order No. 167 dated 05/04/2022, published on the Mumbai Police website; the PVR format is framed by the MEA with the first question being conclusive proof that the applicant is a citizen of India; citizenship is verified as per section 3 of the Citizenship Act; Adverse PVRs issue where applicants are unwilling to share, lack, or provide insufficient documents, with reported instances of Bangladeshi/Nepali nationals and others fraudulently obtaining Indian passports. Holding that the Police had taken appropriate steps and uploaded them on their website, the Court found nothing survived for consideration, disposed of the petition, and appreciated the Passport Branch police for streamlining the verification process.

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Digitally signed by RUPALI RUPALI RAJESH RAJESH WAKODIKAR WAKODIKAR Date: 2025.04.24 11:03:04 +0530 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

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WRIT PETITION NO.6261 OF 2024

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Rizwana Salim Shaikh ...Applicant Versus State of Maharashtra and Anr. ...Respondents

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None for the Applicant

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Mrs. Kranti T. Hiwarale, A.P.P for the Respondent-State.

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PI – Mr. Prasad Satam attached to Passport Branch SB-II, CID, Mumbai, present.

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CORAM : REVATI MOHITE DERE & DR. NEELA GOKHALE, JJ. DATE : 22^nd APRIL 2025

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P.C. :

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Learned APP has filed an affidavit of Shri Prasad Satam,

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Police Inspector, Passport Branch, dated 3^rd March, 2025. The said affidavit was necessitated considering the delay in verification of

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documents. In para 2 to 7 of the said affidavit, it is stated as under:

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“2. I say that an applicant applies for a passport to the RPO, a file is generated where his personal particulars are recorded as stated by him in the application. This file is sent to the jurisdictional police station for verification. After verification police submits the police verification

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report (PVR) to the RPO in the given format. Hereto annexed and marked as Exhibit- "A" is the copy of PVR.

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I say that during the process of verification, police follows the circulars issued from time to time by the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai specifying the process to be followed for the same. Hereto annexed and marked as Exhibit- "B" is the copy of the Standing Order No. 167 dated 05/04/2022 issued by the office of the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai. This document is available on the website of Mumbai Police and citizens are free to go through it to understand the police verification process.

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It is pertinent to note that the format for PVR has been formulated by the MEA and the first question to be answered as part of the verification process is stated as "Is there conclusive proof that the applicant is a citizen of India: Yes/No".

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I say that Citizenship of most applicants as mentioned in their application forms is by birth and the citizenship verification is carried out as per section 3 of the Citizenship Act. Many times the applicants are unwilling to share their documents. Sometimes they do not possess the requisite documents. And at other times, the documents provided by them are not sufficient to prove their citizenship. In all such cases an Adverse PVR is sent to the RPO.

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I say that it is important to note that before issue of a document like a national passport, which an individual

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uses to identify himself/herself internationally as an Indian national, it is imperative that the citizenship verification is done accurately. Numerous cases of Bangladesh and Nepal nationals managing to acquire Indian passports have been reported and it was only possible because the citizenship verification was not done properly in their cases.

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I say that it has also come to notice that certain individuals for whom adverse PVR was been sent to the RPO, passports were issued and they were later intercepted at Indian airports and cases were registered against them for fraudulently obtaining Indian passports.”

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In view of the aforesaid, it appears that the Police have

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taken appropriate steps to address the issues involved and have also uploaded the same on their website. Hence, nothing survives for further consideration in the aforesaid petition.

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