In the ongoing Tanvi Seth passport issue, the lucknow police on Tuesday sent the report of police verification on address of the applicant to the Regional Passport Office (RPO), stating that the applicant was not residing at her present address in lucknow for last one year. The police had not recommended for cancellation of her passport. Sources in passport department said they had received the papers of police verification and the same were being examined. They said an action will be taken if required. Giving details, SSP lucknow Deepak Kumar said they got the letter to conduct address verification on June 18 and thereafter the police started the same.
“During the verification it was found that Tanvi was not residing at the address which she had mentioned in her application at the time of applying for a passport. The residents told the police that Tanvi was residing in NOIDA. The entire finding was written in the verification letter and was sent to RPO office. Now it the RPO discretion that it forwards the application to NOIDA police to verify the same or it initiate any action thereafter,” he said. He clarified that the police had no role in getting a passport canceled. “We are limited to verification of address only. It is on RPO to decide the further course of action,” he said. When asked if the police will initiate any action, the SSP clearly denied the same. As per norms, an applicant seeking for a passport on a particular address should have to stay at the address for a period one year/above year. Tanvi Seth and her husband Anas Siddique had alleged that a passport office official in lucknow, Vikas Mishra, had refused to entertain their forms while allegedly asking the man to convert to Hinduism and woman to use her maiden Hindu name. The local intelligence unit (lIU) in lucknow has confirmed it has received a single page correspondence regarding their verification.
Police sources said here on Sunday said that on Monday that sleuths would verify the permanent and temporary addresses of both the applicant and will sent its report to the passport office like done in other passport applicants. The lucknow Passport Office had issued the passport to the couple within an hour on Thursday after the dispute arose following communal charge by the couple on the passport office Vikas Mishra. However, on Friday, the issue went against the couple as it was found that she was staying in Noida and had given application of the passport from lucknow and she was not ready to disclose her post marriage name. As per the jurisdiction, a native of Noida is eligible to get passport made only from Ghaziabad. The accused passport officer Vikas Mishra, who has been issued a show-cause and transferred to Gorakhpur for the alleged ‘misbehavior’ with the couple— Anas Siddque and his wife Tanvi Seth. Mishra had told the media persons that he had questioned the couple as to why it wanted passports from lucknow when they have been staying in Noida for the past ten years. Besides, the woman wants to get the passport on her maiden name when her ‘Nikahama’ shows it as Sadiya Anas Siddique. She carries identity cards with different names.