Calcutta High Court Seeks State Response On Plea Against Passport Denial Over Mother's Name Being Deleted From SIR

The Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal Government to file a report on a plea challenging the non-issuance of a passport to a student whose mother's name was deleted from the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

The petitioner told the Court that he had secured admission to a medical college in Bangladesh but was unable to obtain a passport because his mother's name had been deleted from the electoral rolls. He submitted that his own name continued to figure in the electoral rolls and that he had also exercised his right to vote.

Opposing the plea, the passport authorities submitted that a police report should be obtained. They explained that the mother's name had to be mentioned while printing the passport and questioned how the passport could be printed when her name no longer figured in the SIR electoral rolls.

During the hearing, Justice Krishna Rao observed that the State Government had to be impleaded in the proceedings. It also cautioned the petitioner against impleading the SIR Tribunal as a respondent.

The petitioner was accordingly directed to delete the Tribunal from the array of respondents and implead the State of West Bengal instead.

The State Government was directed to file a report before the Court on the next date of hearing.