Vikash Mishra, the Senior Passport Superintendent, who reportedly insulted a Muslim-Hindu couple by casting religious aspersions, was suspended from the Passport Sewa Kendra, Lucknow on Thursday.
The Regional Passport Officer (RPO) Peeyush Verma said that Mishra has been suspended and transferred to Gorakhpur. A show cause notice has also been issued to him.
Verma added that the applications of couple Tanvi Seth and Mohammad Anas Siddiqui were processed and the passports were handed over on Thursday. He said they apologised to them and that a detailed report of the incident will be sent to the Ministry of External Affairs.
Mishra, however, rejected the charges against him and said that he was only following the inter-faith marriage security procedure rules. "My objections were on documents she had submitted. I stand by what I did as a duty before approving any suspicious-looking application. I had referred her case to the Assistant Passport Officer (APO)," claimed Mishra.
Senior passport officials, though, rejected Mishra's clarifications. "A married woman can keep her original name, and under the new rules, her husband's passport was the only document required to allow her application," said a senior passport officer.
Anas had on Wednesday alleged that Mishra humiliated them with hateful comments. He then shut the file saying that it will go to the APO.
The couple tweeted and mailed their complaints to the Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. At the time, secretary of the Ministry DM Mulay responded to their tweet and assured them of action. Mulay also sought a detailed report on the incident.
What’s In A Name?
The applications of couple Tanvi Seth and Mohammad Anas Siddiqui were reportedly put on hold over Seth’s name. After the couple tweeted their complaint, an inquiry was sought by MEA into the incident.
