Madras High Court lauds TN State BJP President K Annamalai for bringing passport fraud to light

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday complimented K Annamalai, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Tamil Nadu State President for having taken up the cause relating to the fraudulent issuance of Indian passports to Sri Lankan and Indian nationals with the use of forged documents [Sureshkumar v The Regional Passport Officer]..Justice GR Swaminathan lauded the role of a watch dog he played, pointing out that if not for him the matter would not have come to light."I compliment Shri. K Annamalai, the State Bharatiya Janata Party President for having taken up the cause. He has played the role of a watch dog in a democracy. But for him the matter would not have come to light," the order said. The Court said that judges do not live in vacuum and they are not isolated from the ground reality. "I read in newspapers that Shri. K Annamalai, the State BJP President had raised this very same issue in a big way,” the judge further noted..While hearing a case challenging the decision of the passport authority refusing to process the petitioner’s application, the judge’s attention was drawn to a conspiracy relating to fraudulently obtaining Indian passports..He was informed of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition wherein the Q Branch was called to wind up the investigation into this issue within three months, which was later extended to three months. “I felt surprised that this direction of the Hon'ble Division Bench was not complied with. Final report was yet to be filed on the ground that sanction had not been obtained for prosecuting the erring government servants”, the judge, however, observed..While lamenting that three years had passed since the initial complaint was lodged, the judge expressed his inability to turn a Nelson’s eye to the issue. Therefore, recording that the final report was to be filed shortly before the Judicial Magistrate, the trial court was asked to take a call regarding cognizance expeditiously.“It is scandalous that one police station in Madurai City has facilitated fraudulent issuance of as many as 54 passports. The corrupt elements must be brought to book at the earliest,” the Court said..However, the Court examined the process of verification, and concluded that the buck stopped with the nodal officer and a question as to the involvement of officers above this rank did not arise. In this regard, the then Commissioner of Police, Madurai City was given a clean chit by the court..Nonetheless, Justice Swaminathan fittingly pointed out that had the timelines been adhered to, the present controversy would not have arisen at all..Advocate D Rameshkumar appeared for the appellant while the respondents were represented by advocate V Malaiyendran and Government Advocate G Sivaraja..[Read Order]