Passport Application: What Police Verify | All You Need to Know

New Delhi: Recently, Bihar and Uttarakhand police issued orders saying that they would scrutinise social media behaviour before giving their clearance for people applying for passports. Also Read – World’s Most Powerful Passports 2021 List: India On No. 85, Pakistan in Worst Category. See Which Countries Are On Top

Bihar police have warned that persons indulging in criminal activities during law and order incidents, protest demonstrations and sadak jaam (disruption of road traffic) would find it difficult to get passports — besides government jobs, financial grants by the state, or even bank loans. Also Read – Haryana Govt to Provide Passport to Girl Students on Completion of Graduation

Uttarakhand police have said they will maintain a record of people making “anti-national” or “anti-social” posts on social media and make it part of the police verification report for passports. Also Read – Passport Not Mandatory to Apply For Indian Citizenship: Calcutta High Court

Earlier, police only checked whether or not any FIRs were lodged against passport applicants.

The orders have received flak for being anti-democratic.

What is police verification for a passport?

The police verification stage is an important security measure with regard to the issuance of passports in India. Applying for a fresh passport or a reissue will result in police verification, as per existing regulations. In certain cases, police verification is not required but this would depend on the application and existing documentation.

This process primarily includes physical verification of the address of the applicant, the duration of his or her stay at the place as mentioned in the application, and the applicant’s criminal antecedents, if any.

An applicant is in any case required to mention if he or she has any criminal case or court case pending against them. This is further verified by the police and a report is made and sent to the Regional Passport Office.

Police verification is not done for re-issuance of a passport, unless the circumstances of the applicant have changed or the passport is being re-issued on account of it being lost or stolen.

How to check police verification Status for Passport?

When applying for police verification, the police issue different statuses for police verifications conducted. Here are the types of verification statuses:

Clear – This status indicates that the police have found no cause for concern and that the applicant has a clean record (no pending criminal cases against him/her).

Adverse – This indicates that the police, in the course of their verification, have found inconsistencies in the information submitted by the applicant, resulting in the passport being withheld or cancelled. These inconsistencies could be due to the applicant providing an incorrect or false address in their application. Another cause could be criminal cases that have been filed against that applicant that are pending in a court of law.

Incomplete – This indicates that during the course of the verification process, the police have found the documentation submitted to be incomplete, stopping the process halfway. Another reason could be due to the police station not having filled in the verification report correctly. In some cases where the applicant has not been a resident at his/her current place of residence for a long duration and verification from previous addresses have not been possible, the police could label the verification incomplete due to lack of sufficient information.

Once the police verification is complete, a report is drawn up and the passport can be cancelled or approved on this basis. In cases where the passport is not sanctioned due to an ‘Adverse’ or ‘Incomplete’ remark, the applicant can choose to approach the police station that issued the verification report and seek clarity on the reason for the report.

Exceptions for Police Verification

The exceptions for the different types of Police Verification chosen by the Passport Office for reissue are:

• Re-issue in the case of lost / misplaced / stolen passport.
• Re-issue in the case of complete name change.
• The passport office takes the final decision in the type of police verification (“pre”, “post”, or “no”) that’s required for different applications – depending on the case itself, the additional documents submitted, additional annexures submitted, whether it is the issue of a new passport, or the re-issue of an existing passport, etc.

Any decision by the government to deny a passport to anyone based even on an FIR—let alone social media behaviour or participation in a protest—can be challenged in the court.