The Lucknow police on Tuesday sent its report to the Regional Passport Office over an incident involving an inter-faith couple who had alleged that they were humiliated by an official.
The report has been reportedly mentioned as “adverse” due to two reasons – the woman goes by the name of Tanvi Seth, but her marriage certificate states her name as Sadia Anas; and her husband Anas Siddiqui, who works at BT Global Business Service Pvt Ltd in Noida, lives on rent at B604, JM Archit apartment, Section 76, Noida, but this rental address has not been mentioned in the passport form by the applicant.
According to the report, Tanvi Seth had been living in Noida for the last one year and not Lucknow.
Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar told the media that according to rules applicants should be residing at the address filled in the application for at least one year but Seth had not followed the rules.
“We have sent our report to the RPO. She was not living in Lucknow for past one year. She was living in Noida and doing some work there,” the SSP said.
The couple had alleged that Passport Seva Official Vikas Mishra asked the husband to convert to Hinduism and pulled up the wife for marrying a Muslim when they went there to file passport applications.
When asked whether police would take any action against the couple, the SSP said, “We have to submit verification report on six-seven points only. We have sent our report. Now, the RPO will take the appropriate decision.”
If the media reports are to be believed, there is speculation that the newly issued passports of the couple could be cancelled and they may also be fined Rs 5,000 for misleading authorities.
The matter came to light when Mohammad Anas Siddiqui and Seth, who have been married for 12 years, wrote about their ordeal on Twitter and tagged External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on June 20.
A day later, the Regional Passport Office in Lucknow transferred Mishra and issued passports to the couple.