Srinagar: Iltija Mufti, daughter of former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, has been issued a passport for two years, officials said on Thursday.
Regional Passport Officer Kashmir and Ladakh, Davinder Singh said that on the basis of intelligence reports, the authorities have issued the passport to Iltija Mufti only for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is valid for two years.
“She has asked so that she can study abroad. Master’s degree gets completed in two years. After two years, the assessment will be reviewed and accordingly a decision will be taken for further validity of her passport,” he said.
According to a letter written by the Regional Passport Office to the Additional Solicitor General, Iltija, who wishes to pursue higher studies, has been issued a passport which is valid from April 5, 2023 till April 4, 2025.
Iltija had filed a writ petition before the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir seeking directions to the Regional Passport Officer Srinagar to issue her passport.
In her petition, she had said the delay in issuing her passport by the Passport Officer Srinagar amounts to restraining her from travelling abroad.
She had described the delay as illegal and unconstitutional and says it is “violating” her fundamental rights to travel abroad as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Iltija says she was issued a passport valid up to January 2, 2023. As her passport was due to expire, she applied for the issuance of a passport before the passport officer against proper receipt.
On June 8, 2022, the petitioner in her petition had said her application was received. The passport as per the instruction manual is expected to be dispatched within 30 days. She said that after receipt of the application, “complete in all respects” the Passport Officer sought police verification from the ADGP CID. She stated that in order to verify the status of her application, she visited the website and it was noticed by her that the status of her application is shown as “pending for physical police verification at the respective police station.