NEW DELHI: The government today told the Lok Sabha that passports were issued to an interfaith couple in Lucknow after careful examination of their documents and due procedure was followed.
Asked whether the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had suspended a passport officer in Lucknow for hurting the religious sentiments of an applicant, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh answered, "No".
Tanvi Seth had accused Lucknow passport officer Vikas Mishra of harassing her and her husband Anas Siddiqui.
She had made a slew of allegations against Mishra, who was subsequently transferred to Gorakhpur.
Asked if the ministry had directed the regional passport office in Lucknow to issue the passport to the applicants without verification of their credentials, Singh said, "The passport was issued at Passport Seva Kendra, Lucknow, after careful examination of the documents submitted and following due procedure as per Passport Act, 1967."
Singh, in his reply to a question on whether the government intends to do away with police verification of passports, said the government does not intend to do so and it had taken a number of innovative measures to minimise the delay in completing police verification.
To another question, Singh said there were six Passport Seva Kendras functional in Uttar Pradesh.
The ministry in association with the department of posts has decided to open 289 passport seva kendras at the Head Post Offices or Post Offices in the country called Post Office Passport Seva Kendra, including 35 in UP.