File photo of former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi
Disgraced IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi is among four people against whom the government did not file appeal against the orders of lower courts for issue of passports, said the Centre. Replying to a written question in Rajya Sabha today, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that the others included Prashant Ahluwalia and Anand Jayaswal, both accused in the coal block allocation case filed by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in which the concerned passport authorities did not file appeals.
Mr Modi's passport, against whom a complaint under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) was filed by Enforcement Directorate, was restored on the direction of Delhi High Court in August last year. Ms Swaraj also said that the authority to file a court case regarding passport matters or comply with the court order or appeal against a lower court order before a higher court up to high court level rests with the passport office concerned in consultation with the External Affairs Ministry.
"The appeal against an order of High Court to be filed before the Supreme Court is decided by the CPV Division of the MEA at the instance of the concerned investigating agency and in consultations with the Ministry of Law and Justice," Ms Swaraj said.
Ms Swaraj is facing ire of the Opposition led by Congress which is demanding her resignation for helping the former IPL chief get travel documents. On the details of the number of absconders whose passports have been cancelled by government during last three years, she said the requisite data for three years was being collected from all passport issuing authorities and abroad.