ABDUL MATIN SARKER Vs. BANGLADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Rule was issued calling upon the respondents to show cause as to why they shall not be directed to issue a Machine Readable Passport against the Delivery Slip No. 680100000079336 replacing his handwritten passport earlier issued by the respondents. The facts relevant for disposal of this Rule in, brief, are that the petitioner is a citizen of Bangladesh and he was holding a valid passport bearing No. W0488995 issued on 17.08.2004 valid till 16.08.2014. While the petitioner was so holding a valid passport a circular vide Memo No.

(2.) With the above factual background the petitioner made an application on 10.2.2013 for replacement of his hand- written passport as mentioned above with an MRP having surrendered his original passport to the authority in accordance with law. Pursuant to the application made by the petitioner the passport authority issued a Delivery Slip (Annex-D) on 10.02.2013 bearing No. 680100000079336 wherein 17.3.2013 was fixed for delivery of the MRP. The petitioner having received the delivery slip was waiting for his MRP to be received on the date mentioned in the slip. In the delivery slip there was a mention that passport notification will be sent to the applicants mobile phone/email. The date for delivery expired and thereafter quit some time elapsed but no notification of the kind was received by the petitioner. In the circumstances the petitioner sent his representative to the passport office to enquire about the matter. The person who was sent to the passport office by the petitioner inquired about the development over the replacement case of the petitioner but the passport officials failed to give any satisfactory reply.

(3.) Meanwhile more than four months had elapsed without any positive result. Ultimately having had no other alternative the petitioner served upon the passport authority a demand of justice notice on 20.7.2013. Pursuant to the notice demanding justice respondent No.3 who happens to be one of the Deputy Director of the passport department made a reply to the legal notice on 25.07.2013 in which he stated, inter alia, that upon an inquiry made by special branch of police, Narshingdi it transpired that the petitioner is a charge sheeted accused in a pending criminal case and in the circumstances the authority is unable issue any fresh passport or make replacement of the original passport with an MRP.