Daughter of Mehbooba Mufti, Iltija, demands a regular passport for ten years

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija on Monday shot off a letter to the regional passport officer here, questioning the decision to issue her a country-specific passport for two years only, and demanding a regular passport for 10 years.

"As per rule 12 of the passport rules, duration of the passport has to be ten years. However, in my case it has been illegally curtailed to two years. In addition, the passport has been issued with an endorsement that it's only valid for the UAE.

"Both these decisions have been taken in violation of the mandate of the Passport Act," Iltija wrote in her letter to the regional passport officer Davinder Kumar.

Last week, Iltija was issued a passport for a limited period of two years to allow her to study abroad despite an adverse report by the Crime Investigation Department of police.

The 35-year-old daughter of the former chief minister had moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in February for the issuance of a passport to study abroad after her application for travel document was not cleared.

In her fresh communication to the regional passport office, Iltija said no reason has been furnished to her for making such an order.

"The action is hit by Section 5 (3) and Section 7 (b) of the Passport Act. As no reasons have been furnished, the order of endorsement and time period is illegal, offending the mandate of passport act & also violates my fundamental right to travel abroad.

"You are accordingly requested to withdraw the endorsement and also immediately issue a passport for the regular duration of ten years. Your failure to do so will be a gross negligence of your constitutional duty & a brazen violation of my fundamental right," she said.