Maharashtra minister admits passport seizure

Minister for Relief and Rehabilitation Vijay Wadettiwar has admitted that he had submitted his passport to the Enforce Enforcement Directorate (ED) workplace final month following a discover from the passport workplace to the impact.
BJP MLC Mitesh Bhangdia had filed a petition within the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court right here in 2019, looking for instructions for seizure of Wadettiwar’s passport for the latter’s non-disclosure of legal instances in opposition to him in addition to for submitting false addresses in his three passport functions filed at Nagpur and Mumbai passport workplaces. Bhangdia has additionally alleged that in his subsequent passport functions, he had not disclosed that he had beforehand utilized for passport.
The courtroom had, in June, directed the passport workplace to file a reply within the matter.
“There were four minor agitation related cases against him which were not mentioned in the passport application due to oversight filed by my agent in 2012. I received a notice about it following which I deposited my passport with ED on December 21. As on today, there is no case pending against me and the Special Cell of the police has certified me to the effect,” Wadettiwar instructed mediapersons, refuting experiences that his passport was seized.
Asked if he noticed a political design behind the controversy, Wadettiwar stated, “I am emerging as OBC leaded of the state, so my political opponents are trying to defame me so that I should not become one.”
Bhangdia had moved the courtroom with particulars acquired underneath the Right to Information Act, 2005, by one Anand Deoghare. The RTI info had revealed that Wadettiwar had utilized for passport at Nagpur workplace in 2001 the place he didn’t point out legal instances in opposition to him. In that software, he had talked about his tackle at Gadchiroli. In 2007, he had once more utilized for passport on the Nagpur workplace, furnishing tackle of Mumbai. So the Nagpur workplace had forwarded his software to the Mumbai passport workplace. In this case, he had not disclosed that he had beforehand utilized for a passport in 2001.
On each events, his software was rejected for need of appropriate requisite info. Subsequently, he had once more moved the Nagpur workplace and had received the passport in 2012. This time additionally he had not furnished details about the legal instances in opposition to him, Bhangdia had alleged.
The High Court had then issued notices to the Passport Office and the Nagpur Commissioner of Police to file their replies.
Bhangdia has additionally prayed that offences be registered in opposition to Wadettiwar underneath related sections for suppressing obligatory info required to be furnished within the passport software kind.
Although Wadettiwar claimed that his passport was not seized, a letter from the passport workplace clearly mentions that his passport was impounded on December 18 and that Wadettiwar had “surrendered” the identical to the passport workplace on December 21.