“The backlog of urgent passports will be cleared by the end of May and by June 15 all passports will be ready.” says Cheema. PHOTO: FILE
The controversial contract for purchase of lamination paper to produce passports was awarded to a US firm by ex-interior minister Rehman Malik, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was informed on Tuesday.
Immigration and Passports Director General (DG) Zulfiqar Ahmed Cheema, who was summoned by the court appeared before IHC’s Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqi, stated that the former minister called a deputy project director for passports at his residence and asked him to award the contract to Security Laminates Opsec. Cheema had been issued a notice to explain why the contract for lamination papers for machine-readable passports was given to the US company.
During the course of hearing on Tuesday, Cheema informed the court that the ministry had issued numerous blue passports to officers who were not entitled to them, but he claimed to have ordered their cancellation. He requested the court to pass an order to initiate inquiry so action could be taken against the responsible officers. Cheema maintained that the backlog of passports would be cleared by mid-June. “The backlog of urgent passports will be cleared by the end of May and by June 15 all passports will be ready.”
A representative of Security Laminates Opsec filed an application to become a party in the case which was accepted. The case has been adjourned till May 28.
At the previous hearing, Salman Akrman Raja, counsel for Reliance Company, had argued that the department had not carried out complete laboratory tests of lamination sheets. He had alleged that the project director for machine-readable passports had manipulated the bidding process to favour the US company in clear violation of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority’s (PPRA) rules.
The federal ombudsman had earlier directed the interior ministry to refund urgent fees to all applicants who had paid the latter but were not issued their passports within the prescribed period.
The crisis started last December and since then thousands of applicants have been waiting for their passports.
The delivery date for passports is usually promised in two weeks. On April 3, the court had granted a stay against awarding the contract to the US company. The contract was challenged by the management of Reliance Company, a French firm, for violating PPRA rules.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2013.
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