Allahabad High Court, in an order, has directed that all police verification reports for passport applications must be completed and submitted within four weeks.
A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Swarupama Chaturvedi, passed the above direction, hearing a writ petition filed by one Rahimuddin and observed that the passport delay is a hurdle to the right to travel.
The bench referred to the Citizen's Charter (June 2025) issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The court highlighted that while an ordinary passport is expected to be issued within 30 working days and reissued within seven working days, both timelines exclude the period taken for police verification.
"This shows that the MEA's expected timeline does not stipulate any limit for the police verification stage," added the court.
Against this backdrop, the court emphasised that the police department shall ensure that all verification files pertaining to passport applications are processed with due diligence and completed within four weeks without undue delay (as per the time-frame prescribed by the Ministry of External Affairs).
