‘To Call Passport Only a Travel Document Serious Mistake, Govt Should Apologize’: Justice Madan Lokur
Chairperson of the United Nations Internal Justice Council and former Supreme Court judge, Justice Madan Lokur, said that the government statement about the Indian passport being “only a travel document” and not proof of citizenship is “a serious mistake” and the government should apologise or, at least, clarify that this was an error.
Justice Lokur points out that The Passports Act of 1967 repeatedly refers to passports and travel documents thus clearly indicating that passports and travel documents are not the same thing but two different entities. He said that “passports are accepted (by the receiving country) because they embody the issuing state’s assertion that the bearer is one of its own nationals … when the Republic places its seal upon a passport it’s doing more than permitting international travel. It’s formally vouching for one of its own citizens before the world.” That’s the critical message an Indian passport embodies and conveys. Watch the full discussion.
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