No mechanism at passport office to detect govt servants
Dept only has access to NADRA data, which does not mention profession, says officially
Dept only has access to NADRA data, which does not mention profession, says official. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
ISLAMABAD :
Around 50,000 government officials have acquired passports in violations of rules without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their respective departments but the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports has no mechanism to detect such applicants.
According to official sources in the directorate, the Passport Office has no scrutiny process to deal with the alarming situation with regard to government employees who do not declare their government service while obtaining a passport.
Recently the Federally Investigation Agency (FIA) told to the Supreme Court that there are 47,561 government officers do who did not declare their government service in their passports.
According to rules and regulations, no government official can obtain a passport without producing the NOC of his respective department. Moreover, if an official wants to travel abroad he or she needs to produce the NOC as well during the immigration process.
In case he or she does not have an NOC for travelling abroad by the government’s department where they are employed then the immigration authorities are allowed to stop them from travelling.
Malir former SSP Rao Anwar had the NOC for travelling abroad but immigration officials thought that it was dubious and they stopped him at the airport and denied him permission to fly abroad. Anwar is facing trial and investigation for allegedly staging encounter of a tribal youth in Karachi.
However, besides lacking scrutiny’s mechanism to verify the credentials, the Passport Office seems also toothless regarding taking action when it is established that a person has acquired a passport without declaring his government service status.
When contacted for his version a concerned official of Passport Directorate told The Express Tribune that profession is not asked when the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) makes the computerised national Identity card (CNIC).
“So although the directorate has access to the NADRA database, it has no mechanism to find out if a person is a government servant until he or she voluntarily discloses this,” he added.
He said if the profession is not mentioned on a passport, a government employee does not need to obtain an NOC for travelling. He also admitted that without mentioning his profession as a government employee, government officials cannot go for any course, training, or government hajj.
Responding to a query as to what the Passport Office may do if it is established that a government official has obtained a passport without revealing his government job, the official said his case may be referred to the FIA.
“But he surely will not be given passport facility unless he apologises in writing and unless his department grants the NOC mentioning that it knows that the applicant obtained a passport in private capacity despite being in government service.
“And then the case will be approved or disapproved by the Directorate of Passport and Immigration director general. But since the start of a dual nationality case in the Supreme Court, the DG has stopped granting such approvals, so that no dual national, who earlier concealed his status, can now try to divulge details regarding government job and gets benefit unduly,” he added.
Former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had launched a campaign against dubious CNICs and passports when it was found that the Taliban’s slain chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor had a Pakistani CNIC and passport.
During this campaign in 2017, over 32,000 passports were revoked besides cancellation of the CNICs in huge numbers. The Taliban chief fiasco had embarrassed the authorities and it was believed that a flawless mechanism would now be developed. However, this seems like a far cry at the moment.
Around 50,000 government officials have acquired passports in violations of rules without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their respective departments but the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports has no mechanism to detect such applicants.
According to official sources in the directorate, the Passport Office has no scrutiny process to deal with the alarming situation with regard to government employees who do not declare their government service while obtaining a passport.
Recently the Federally Investigation Agency (FIA) told to the Supreme Court that there are 47,561 government officers do who did not declare their government service in their passports.
According to rules and regulations, no government official can obtain a passport without producing the NOC of his respective department. Moreover, if an official wants to travel abroad he or she needs to produce the NOC as well during the immigration process.
In case he or she does not have an NOC for travelling abroad by the government’s department where they are employed then the immigration authorities are allowed to stop them from travelling.
Malir former SSP Rao Anwar had the NOC for travelling abroad but immigration officials thought that it was dubious and they stopped him at the airport and denied him permission to fly abroad. Anwar is facing trial and investigation for allegedly staging encounter of a tribal youth in Karachi.
However, besides lacking scrutiny’s mechanism to verify the credentials, the Passport Office seems also toothless regarding taking action when it is established that a person has acquired a passport without declaring his government service status.
When contacted for his version a concerned official of Passport Directorate told The Express Tribune that profession is not asked when the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) makes the computerised national Identity card (CNIC).
“So although the directorate has access to the NADRA database, it has no mechanism to find out if a person is a government servant until he or she voluntarily discloses this,” he added.
He said if the profession is not mentioned on a passport, a government employee does not need to obtain an NOC for travelling. He also admitted that without mentioning his profession as a government employee, government officials cannot go for any course, training, or government hajj.
Responding to a query as to what the Passport Office may do if it is established that a government official has obtained a passport without revealing his government job, the official said his case may be referred to the FIA.
“But he surely will not be given passport facility unless he apologises in writing and unless his department grants the NOC mentioning that it knows that the applicant obtained a passport in private capacity despite being in government service.
“And then the case will be approved or disapproved by the Directorate of Passport and Immigration director general. But since the start of a dual nationality case in the Supreme Court, the DG has stopped granting such approvals, so that no dual national, who earlier concealed his status, can now try to divulge details regarding government job and gets benefit unduly,” he added.
Former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had launched a campaign against dubious CNICs and passports when it was found that the Taliban’s slain chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor had a Pakistani CNIC and passport.
During this campaign in 2017, over 32,000 passports were revoked besides cancellation of the CNICs in huge numbers. The Taliban chief fiasco had embarrassed the authorities and it was believed that a flawless mechanism would now be developed. However, this seems like a far cry at the moment.