Hindu-Muslim couple get passports after Sushma intervenes
Lucknow, June 21: A Hindu woman married to a Muslim got her passport on Thursday, following External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's intervention, barely 24 hours after a passport officer rejected her application on the grounds that she had not changed her surname.
Regional Passport Official Piyush Verma on Thursday gave the passport to Tanvi Sethi while the passport of her husband Mohammad Anas Siddiqui was renewed and also handed over.
Sethi alleged misbehaviour by passport officer Vikas Mishra on Wednesday when she had gone to the passport office here. She said her passport application was rejected on the grounds that she had not changed her surname even after 12 years of marriage to a Muslim man.
She later tweeted to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Sushma Swaraj with her complaint. Both responded to her plea.
Passport officer Mishra has since been transferred to Gorakhpur and an explanation has been sought from him, an official told IANS.
Sethi and her husband said they were very happy at the alacrity with which the PMO and the MEA responded.
The officer accused of misbehaviour, however, denied the charges and said he had only told Sethi of the rules laid down in such cases.
Senior officials said that old rules mandated that a marriage certificate be produced in cases of inter-religious marriages during the passport application procedure, though adding that the officer was not right in ill-treating the woman and shouting at her.
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Vijayanagara: One dead, 12 injured as trucks hits their vehicle from behind on NH 50
Vijayanagara: One man was killed and 12 others were injured after a truck hit vehicle they were traveling in on the National Highway 50 stretch on the outskirts of Koodligi in the district.
The accident victim, Madhu (27), is learned to have been an employee of Reliance Digital from Andhra Pradesh.
The vehicle was reportedly traveling from Bengaluru to Koodligi and the passengers are learned to have been seriously injured following the collision with the truck, which was found to have a Maharashtra registration.
Koodligi Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Mallesh Dodmani and Circle Inspector Prahlad Channagiri arrived at the accident spot on being informed of the accident.
The police officers and locals rescued the injured passengers and got them shifted to the Koodligi Government Hospital. Some of the passengers were reportedly taken to the Ballari Trauma Care Centre for further treatment.
A case has been registered at the Koodligi Police Station and the officers are investigating the incident.
