Mehbooba Mufti's Daughter Gets 2-Year Passport To Study Abroad

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija has been issued a passport for a limited period of two years to allow her to study abroad despite an adverse report by the CID, officials said on Thursday.

Iltija, 35, had moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in February for issuance of the passport for her studies after her application for the travel document was not cleared.

Her passport had expired on January 2 and she had applied for a fresh one in advance on June 8 last year.

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 passport which is valid from April 5, 2023 till April 4, 2025.

Quoting the letter, the officials said the CID/Police verification report received from Special Director General of Police (CID) J&K in February does not favour for issuance of passport to the petitioner.

The officials said passport officer (Srinagar) Davinder Kumar sought a detailed report from the CID on any charge sheet and FIR against the petitioner but the department refused and reiterated their initial report shared by them on February 16.

"Given the circumstances especially that the applicant seeks to pursue higher studies (Masters) in UAE, this office issued passport ... valid up to 04/04/2025," Kumar said in his letter.

Iltija told PTI that by issuing her the passport, no favour has been extended and wondered why the validity was for only two years whereas the travel document is valid for 10 years.

"They have not done me any favour. I am thankful to the honourable court but the larger question remains about CID's gross misconduct and abuse of power by weaponising passports," she alleged.

She said the CID's first submission to court was full of "bald-faced lies" as they are infringing upon "my rights by filing adverse reports to ensure my passport is not issued".

"To add to that, the adverse report has been classified as top secret. The only reason it is top secret is because CID has nothing substantial against me so they are misusing the Official Secrets Act," Iltija said, adding "I have secured a two-year extension to my passport after a relentless court battle for 10 months. Imagine the plight of other Kashmiris." On March 29, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) wing of J&K police had sought dismissal of Iltija's writ petition by informing the high court that her final verification report was forwarded to the department concerned the previous month.

"The petitioner has no ground to approach the court against the answering respondent because none of the right, whether fundamental or legal, has been infringed by the answering respondent," the Senior Superintendent of Police, headquarters, CID J&K, had said.

He claimed the petitioner wrongly "impleaded the department as party respondent in the instant matter, while as, the CID has a mere informative role in the passport proceedings and neither any relief has been or could be sought from it".

"The answering respondents department (CID) primarily is an intelligence wing of the government of J&K and has a limited role to the extent of discreetly verifying the character/Antecedents of persons on the recommendations of the competent authorities. The role of CID ends as soon as the report is forwarded," he had said.

In March 2021, Mehbooba Mufti and her 80-year-old mother Gulshan Nazir were refused passport by J&K Police citing an "adverse report" against her.

Ms Mufti's passport expired on May 31, 2019 and she had applied for a fresh one on December 11, the next year, while her mother and wife of former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had also applied for a passport in 2020 to undertake a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

Ms Mufti's passport application is still pending though the authorities issued the travel document of her mother in February on the directions of the high court.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)