Delhi Lt. Governor V K Saxena has approved the prosecution of 11 individuals allegedly involved in obtaining passports through false and forged documents, according to officials from Raj Niwas on Sunday.
With this decision, the LG has granted prosecution sanction for 69 people, whose names have surfaced in 46 FIRs under the Passports Act, 1967, submitted to him since April this year.
The home department sought the sanction for prosecution under Section 15 of the Passports Act for offenses listed in Section 12 of the act. These offenses involve obtaining passports, travel documents, and visas based on false, fabricated, and forged documents, an official stated.
Expressing concern, the LG highlighted that agents, often the kingpins of such rackets, manipulate innocent people while remaining untraceable, the official added.
The LG was informed that eight agents involved in six cases of forged documents have yet to be located. Between April and November, the LG received 40 additional FIRs, for which prosecution sanctions were granted.
In six cases where separate FIRs were filed by Delhi Police from 2007 to 2019, the LG expressed displeasure over delays in taking action. He pointed out a lapse of more than 16 years in one case.
“He emphasized that instructions had been issued earlier to avoid undue delays in processing such cases. However, these instructions were not being followed by the Delhi Police and the home department, leading to inordinate delays in processing and submitting cases for seeking prosecution sanction,” the official said.
