Mehbooba Mufti's passport: Delhi HC orders to decide in 3 months

New Delhi: The passport authority has been directed by the Delhi High Court on Friday to decide on issuing a fresh travel document to PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, PTI reported.

"Considering that the matter is remanded back to the passport officer and the initial rejection was two years ago, let the passport officer concerned take a decision expeditiously and, in any case, within three months," Justice Prathiba M Singh ordered.

The court observed that the issue has been pending for two years, and following an appeal against the rejection, it has now been remanded to the passport officer concerned for reconsideration.

The court heard a petition by Mufti, a former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister, seeking a direction to the authorities to take an early decision on her appeal, which demanded the issuance of a fresh passport. She pleaded that a considerable delay is there in issuing the document even after her reminders. She added that no decision had been taken on her appeal.

The Centre had submitted before the court that an order had been sent to the J&K passport officer to reconsider issuing the document to Mufti.

The court then said that the petition was infructuous and no further orders were required.

Last month, Mufti requested External Affairs Minister (MEA) S Jaishankar's intervention in the matter of the issuance of a passport. She said that she has been waiting for the document for the past three years to take her 80-year-old mother to Holy Makkah. According to a letter she wrote to the MEA, her passport renewal request lay pending after J&K CID gave a report that issuing her a passport would harm national security.