‘Confirming all docs in passport process cumbersome’

The Centre on Wednesday told the High Court that fake documents submitted during passport verification may sometimes escape attention of officers, but confirming authenticity of each and every document would make the process of issuing passports “cumbersome”. Confirming authenticity of each document given by an applicant would also “amount to gross mistrust of the citizens by the government”, the MEA told a Bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw. The submissions were made in an affidavit filed by MEA in response to a PIL alleging that passports were being issued to people who are not living at the addresses given by them in their applications. However, arguments in the PIL could not be heard as the court’s file was found to be missing at the time of hearing and was listed on July 8. The government has also said it had in 2014 issued one crore passports of which those issued to non-Indians or citizens who gave false information are a “microscopic minority”.